Tarai - Exhibition and Sculptural Iconography of Rapa Nui Oral Tradition

by Claudia Berardi
Photos by © Nikole Albornoz

This graphic-sculptural montage offers a selection of essential intersections between pieces of traditional carving and the ancestral oralities of Rapa Nui culture.

“The ancient and ongoing dialogue between matter and spirit; between the tangible and the ethereal; between the social body and the Rapanui cultural soul contributed to the preservation of a symbolic memory which, somewhat faded by time, is strengthened through its dissemination and transmission. Comparative exercises reveal its clear relationship and interdependence.”

Excerpt from research on the Tarai, conducted over the past decade by archaeologist and anthropologist Sergio Rapu Haoa and multidisciplinary artist Sofía Abarca Fariña.

Theater-of-Sofía-Abarca-Aticulated-Sculptures

Articulated Sculpture Theater of Sofía Abarca

Moko – By Benedicto “Bene” Tuki Pate”

Through comparative exercises, Sergio Rapu and Sofía Abarca Fariña carried out cross-analyses. In each of the oral accounts they examined, when related to pieces of traditional iconography, they found two, three, or even four different versions. As a result, one of their initial conclusions was that there is no single oral tradition. Rather, there are various oralities, all equally valid, as each has been transmitted by different family groups, emphasizing what they, as ancient nuclei, considered most important.

Thus, the emphasis in the same story may fall on different characters, or even within the same narrative, may be placed in locations as distant as Poike or Orongo. Therefore, all forms of oral tradition are valid, as there is no way to determine which one is true. If a single version were established as the true one, it would become a historical truth and cease to be oral tradition.

Tahora Mamari Moko – By Bruno Pakomio

This flexibility inherent in oral tradition is the anthropologically intriguing element that draws the attention of both Sergio, as an archaeologist and anthropologist, and Sofía, as an artist who bases her work on anthropology.

This project is a fraction of the research on the Tarai (carving in Rapanui language) that Sergio and Sofía have been conducting for over 10 years. This research has been ongoing over time, and as they have been unable to conclude it, they decided to at least begin sharing it with the community. Both hope to publish the complete research in a book in a couple of years.

Art by – Ruso Hey

Proyect Ka Tutu – by ecoartesan Daniel Rojas

Tribute to three masters

At the conclusion of this research, the authors had committed to creating a graphic-visual exhibition corresponding to the graphics seen on the gallery wall. However, during the process, three very important people for Rapa Nui and the project passed away: Bene Tuki, Etu Tuki, and Ruso Hey. “They were the only masters involved in the research, so it was very important for us to pay tribute to them. That’s why, a month before the exhibition, we placed advertising outside the gallery, where neither Sergio nor I, nor a carving figure, were present. Instead, they were displayed there to honor their memory and thank them for everything they contributed to our research process,” says Sofía Abarca.

All the “disciples” of these masters joined the exhibition, which is a way of saying, as they are great sculptors, but they belong to the emerging generation that has been making notable efforts for several years to enhance and reaffirm the identity with traditional carving. These young artists include: Haumoana Hey, Bruno Pakomio, Esteban Peñaloza, and Tukihakahevari Tuki. Two plastic artists also contributed to this museum staging: Tauroa Aguilera Hey, a young painter who depicts Rapa Nui oral tradition with elements of carving, and the iconographic work of French artist Delphine Poulain.