sash(kāʻei; kāʻei kaula (ritual sash))
- Museum number
- 2020,2008.1
- Title
- Object: Kaiwipeahi (Ribs of the Fan)
- Description
-
Kāʻei (sash), titled “Kaiwipeahi” (“Ribs of the Fan”), made of a single cotton cord and thirty niho ʻīlio (dog teeth) sewn along the short edges. The cotton cord is knotted to form ribs (iwi) echoing the vertical and the horizontal structures of the peahi nī ʻau (fan).
- Production date
- 2020
- Dimensions
-
Length: 234.50 centimetres
-
Thickness: 1.20 centimetres
-
Width: 16 centimetres
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 31 Aug 2020
- Acquisition notes
- The object was acquired from the E Ulu A Paʻa 2020 Bishop Museum Annual Fundraiser to honour and celebrate the continued relationship between the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum and the British Museum, and to support contemporary artistic creation in Hawai'i. The object was made by the artist for the fundraiser.
This acquisition was supported by the Benioff Oceania Programme.
Artist Statement (from the E Ulu A Paʻa 2020 Bishop Museum Annual Fundraiser page, lot 238, 08/2020):
Kaiwipeahi (Ribs of the Fan)
This Kāʻei kaula (ritual sash) is 100% cotton cord, edged with niho ʻīlio (dog teeth).
This “innovation” stems from the piko of kōkō puʻupuʻu.
“The name of this piece is Kaiwipeahi (Ribs of the Fan), after the vertical and horizontal nīʻau ribbed interior support of Peahi Nīʻau. The idea is that whoever uses this may also find their spiritual interior to be supported. The niho ʻīlio edging is a protective element, as ritualists have to straddle both the physical and spiritual worlds, and as the dogs stand guardians at the gates to the afterlife, may the ritualist in this kāʻei keep guard. Inspired by little known ritual kāʻei wear of Hawaiʻi. In these times when indigenous Hawaiʻi is entering into deep ritual to balance global impacts on Hawaiʻi’s nature, culture, families and communities, we have to dig deep into our archives to see what we can resurrect from the past to contribute to the rituals of today. I believe kāʻei has a place in this”.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- 2020,2008.1
