At the Field Museum, a live art collaboration became a real-time sharing of Samoan cultural practice, history and knowledge between generations.
A group has been working on a piece referred to as “siapo mamanu.” Their canvas was a massive sheet of barkcloth spread over multiple tables. Their brushes were pandanus seeds, and their paint was natural dye from the Bischofia javanica tree. Their intricate motifs represented earthworms, fishing nets, shellfish and other cultural images.
People came from San Diego, Michigan, Wisconsin and Chicago’s own Polynesian community to assist husband-and-wife master artists Su’a Uilisone Fitiao and Reggie Meredith Fitiao with the piece. Among the helpers were Jaklyn Hanipale, her husband, Manusamoa Uperesa Hanipale, and their two daughters, who joined in on Saturday.
“The fact that we can come and contribute to it and learn more about it is what’s exciting to me, just because of the pride that I have in being Samoan,” said Jaklyn Hanipale, 51, of Jefferson Park. “And I’m so thrilled to see my girls being able to participate.”
The finished artwork will be displayed in a yet-to-be titled exhibition due to open in April in the Regenstein Halls of the Pacific. Another featured piece will be a restored, 19th-century canoe, which Su’a Uilisone Fitiao worked on in front of patrons. Curated by the Fa’asamoa Arts nonprofit, the show will highlight the culture of American Samoa. Its development is happening as legal requirements and ethical considerations have driven the Field Museum and other institutions to reevaluate items in their collections from indigenous communities.
Field Museum collection manager Chris Philipp said the forthcoming exhibition is an example of how the museum can responsibly partner with groups it highlights, while sharing and celebrating their cultures.
“It’s just really exciting to see the museum come alive with these art forms,” he said.
The featured canoe was originally transported from the Samoan Islands to the 1893 World’s Columbian Expedition. It was acquired by the Field Museum and then given to the Brooklyn Museum, which returned it to the Chicago institution about a decade ago following a downsizing of its collection.
Su’a Uilisone Fitiao, 63, is working to restore its missing pieces, building a paddle, outrigger, bailer and other parts with basswood donated by Menominee Tribal Enterprise in Wisconsin.
Both he and Reggie Meredith Fitiao, 65, shared that they would rather see the canoe displayed in a museum than repatriated. That way, Chicagoans and other visitors of Samoan heritage can learn about their history, said the couple, who live in American Samoa.
“They should feel like, ‘Wow, my ancestor built this canoe,’” Su’a Uilisone Fitiao said.
Reggie Meredith Fitiao said she was especially passionate about passing on the knowledge of siapo to younger people in the community. She was originally taught by her aunt, Mary Pritchard. And when Samoan visitors see the completed artwork on display at the Field Museum, she said she hoped they feel welcomed and proud of their identity.
“I hope that when they see our show, they walk away feeling revitalized and knowing that there’s a place where they come from,” she said.
