Kete Moana: Ta'i Paitai's Creative Tribute to Tradition and Healing

By Loveni Enari

To know, know, know him ... is to love, love, love him - the Teddy Bears from 1958 - beautiful song. Think about your friend list and think whose name you could possibly associate with it.

I challenge anyone, but anyone, who's a friend of Ta'i Paitai’s, to listen to that song and say it's not perfect for him!

Central City Library Artist in Residence, kete-weaver extraordinaire, prestigious dancer, Ta'i Paitai, that is.

You meet him, you think what an extraordinarily nice person, you tell someone who knows him and their reaction?

You get what I call that false Auckland voice (except it's real with Ta'i), 'Ooohhhh but he's lovely! What a lovely guy. He's so nice. He's amazing. Oh isn't he adorable'

Blah, blah, blah.

The first five people I mentioned his name to had that exact same reaction. 100%.

In three words - in bloody credible!

More incredible is his work as an artist. He's danced with all the best choreographers of his time, Neal Ieremia (Black Grace) Sala Lemi Ponifasio (MAU) and the directors, the late Iosefa Enari and the late Nancy Brunning to name a few.

But his sweet spot? Performing in front of his parents at a packed out Kiri te Kanawa theatre.

'In my mind I'll always be a dancer but with these knees and these extra kilos, it's not happening,' says Paitai.

For all the wonderful dance history on his broad CV it's his relatively new art form which has brought him the Artist in Residence place - kete or basket weaving for his new brand Kete Moana.

'I only started about two years ago after being schooled by the Niuean Mamas,' says Paitai, referring to the group Tupumaiaga a Niue Trust from Central Auckland, who have been plying their trade for the last 30 years.

'I found I not only had a knack for it but I also really enjoyed its therapeutic value.'

‘I lost my Mum last year so I enjoy getting lost in the work while weaving is good for me.’

He says the grieving process has allowed him a new clarity in terms of making kete. It has allowed him to incorporate stories, intentions and what he’s trying to incorporate into the design of each kete depending on who it’s for.

'You need patience and it's like maths, one over, one under but it's still an art form and very much alive.'

'It's very much attuned to the Pacific Island way of being. Our indigenous past informs us of the intersection between creative and everyday life and our contemporary present values pakeha ‘art forms’ as higher art? Sorry, I disagree,’ or words to that effect, says Paitai.

And as he explains it with the busy Aukilagi traffic buzzing past, young students catching buses and the inevitable rain starts to fall, I am transported to the islands with his words.

The gathering of food, the rituals, braiding each other's hair,

the exchange of gifts, sleeping arrangements, for travel, for our fale ... it's all weaving and interweaving of traditions, people, generations, memories, sadness and ultimately, love.

Pa'itai's love and wealth of talent is there for all to see in the wonderfully original designs and the modernity of his touch.

'I've got to want to own each one of my creations,' he says.

'If it's not good enough for me, it's not good enough for anyone.'

'And for all the beauty you might find in each bag of mine I want to be able to fit at least three bottles of champagne so beauty, schmooty, it's also gotta be functional.'

You cannot get more functional and tougher than polypropylene strapping lashing for ship containers, which is the material he uses.

And it's generally always blue, simply because it's rarely produced in any other colour - hence his company's name - Kete Moana or Kete Blue or Sky or deep ocean - all valid and all beautiful translations.

His main market? Bourgie Brown, you know, firmly middle class brown people, who are absolutely lapping up his creations. They are just the thang to have on your arm at the latest awards show, TV shoot, or plain playing hip on a trip to the Dairy.

All of Paitai's art contemporaries have told him he should be charging upwards of $500 for each of his babies.

I'll let you in on a secret. He's charging considerably less!

‘Everything I've learnt from before, from dance, from choreography, I incorporate into the price. Each kete is who I am.’

Get along now folks, his residency has just been extended, but there's a limit to every good thing.

To know, know, know him …

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