Gillies\u2019 daughter Aroha Heilala Gillies<\/a> also participated in the workshops, making it three generations of artists.<\/p>\nGillies said she had been \u201ctruly honoured\u201d to be able to work alongside her mother and daughter at the workshop.<\/p>\n
She said Burrows, who is aged 74, represents \u201cone of the last traditional tapa makers of her generation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I recognise the importance of the knowledge, traditions, and skills passed down from her.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Locals]()
Locals work on their creations during the two-week workshop in Tonga. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
She said it had been a special time to share it with her Aroha.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s essential to continue sharing this heritage with future generations and others within the Pacific diaspora, helping them reconnect with their roots. Through the arts, we can express and showcase our Tongan culture, highlighting its richness and significance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018The Queen of the People\u2019<\/p>\n
The Tongan Queen has made no secret of her passion to keep alive her country\u2019s heritage and arts.<\/p>\n
She wants to see more high-quality ngatu produced in Tonga, and for local producers and artists to decorate their own cloth.<\/p>\n
Queen Nanasipau\u2019u Tuku\u2019aho hopes ngatu can be utilised by Tongan women.<\/p>\n
She told the workshop making ngatu using local materials had multiple positives.<\/p>\n
It would ensure it lasted longer and also have a greater value.<\/p>\n
The Tongan royal also told the workshop it was a great way for the women of Tongan villages to generate an income via the sale of products to tourists.<\/p>\n
Gillies said the group was also told if the ngatu plan worked then \u201cpeople all around the world will be reminded of Tonga every time they look at it\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter spending time with Her Majesty, I refer to her as the Queen of the People, a compassionate leader dedicated to supporting the wellbeing of the people of Tonga.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gillies and Burrows have been talking to the Queen about returning for another workshop in the future.<\/p>\n
She said the future looked positive.<\/p>\n
A landowner in one village is providing space for villagers to plant a new crop of hiapo, or paper mulberry trees, to grow the bark needed to make ngatu.<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The Tongan women learning the old art of ngatu. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
And another village has applied for funding to take what they\u2019ve learned from Gillies and her mum to create their own workshops where knowledge can be passed on.<\/p>\n
Burrows said passing on the traditional skills will ensure ngatu is enjoyed by future generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to remind the world that ngatu belongs to Tonga. That\u2019s our koloa, our treasure. Not anybody can come in and help themselves,\u201d Burrows said.<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The Last Kai recently sold in Australia for $85,000. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Burrows and Gillies have twice been to Madrid to view and sketch Malaspina\u2019s Carpet, the world\u2019s oldest intact ngatu, in the Museo de America.<\/p>\n
Tongan scholars believe the ngatu originated in Vava\u2019u in the late 1700s.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile two thought-provoking works were recently sold on commission to the National Gallery of Victoria – one the five-metre long Pasifika version of The Last Supper, entitled The Last Kai, with women – not the disciples – wearing Covid-19 masks while sitting around the table.<\/p>\n
Joseph Los\u2019e is an award winning journalist and joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa M\u0101ori Editor. Los\u2019e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and before joining NZME worked for urban M\u0101ori organisation Wh\u0101nau Waipareira.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One hundred Tongan women from 20 villages participated in the ngatu workshop in Tongatapu. Photo \/ Supplied Gillies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95,1075,4914,3043,115,31786,5232,31787,71,305,5838,302,31789,4188,17154,117,111,43,139,69,90,13572,3366,7493,31783,31788,199,31784,223,61,31782,31785,31790,2248,377,80],"class_list":["post-33737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-and","tag-answered","tag-artists","tag-call","tag-calls","tag-cloth","tag-create","tag-doing","tag-from","tag-have","tag-help","tag-its","tag-kingdoms","tag-living","tag-nations","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-pacific","tag-queen","tag-revenue","tag-revive","tag-stream","tag-take","tag-tapa","tag-the","tag-to","tag-tongan","tag-tradition","tag-villages","tag-women","tag-world","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}