Transcript
Upon entering Lakiloko's exhibition, visitors are required to remove their shoes.
The floor of the display room is covered in traditional mats, woven by the Tuvalu arts group Fafine Niutao I Aotearoa - a collective of women which Lakiloko is a key member of.
Alongside many in her community, the women gather to celebrate Lakiloko's work as visitors sit on the floor observing her pieces.
Lakiloko is an artist of mea taulima; things created with hands.
And the pieces produced in her exhibition build on a practice of over five decades.
Born on the atoll of Nui, she's been blind in one eye from a very young age. But that never stopped her from learning the traditional practice of weaving.
"We had a women's group in Tuvalu who were all weavers and two women from each island would join in the group, representing their island. Myself and my friend Kelesoma's mother went together. And I'd never done any weaving before."
She says she was about 30 years old when she first learnt to weave and was the first in her community to incorporate synthetic materials.
"In the Islands we used to use pandanus leaves and then when Tuvaluan women migrated here to New Zealand they would continue weaving using raffia but over time, raffia would break and it wasn't as strong and also the colour would fade so I thought 'maybe I'll try it with wool'. And the colours stay more vibrant with wool."
Lakiloko arrived in New Zealand 22 years ago and in recent years has made a significant contribution to maintaining the art of kolose, traditional Tuvaluan crocheting, in New Zealand.
Last year she was awarded the Pacific Heritage Art Award by Creative New Zealand.
"I'm a very active person. I'm not the type of person to just sit down and do nothing. No. I have to have something to do. So weaving and our traditional kolose which is like crocheting, was my way of keeping active when I first moved here to New Zealand."
Her grandaughter Patricia Filipi says weaving was her grandmother's normal way of life.
"Because she was doing it every single day, probably like 6 hours a day, it was just normal you know. And we didn't really value and see the importance of it until other people - outsiders - were like, oh my gosh what is this, you know, 'we've never seen this before'. And then it kind of like made you think oh my gosh it's special."
The exhibition of Fafetu features a number of distinct weaving and crochet techniques, including tio, a type of Tuvalu crochet known as kolose and lalaga - weaving with a needle.
It comes as New Zealand celebrates Tuvalu Language week this week, with this year's theme including a focus on nurturing Tuvaluan cultural values and heritage.
Lakiloko says her blindness has never limited her and she hopes she can help Tuvalu's culture live on, amid the threat of rising sea levels.
"Because it's my passion, it's what I love to do, I'm driven. I don't want my eye to stop me from doing what I love doing."
"It really is important for me to pass on our traditional art, weaving, kolose and even our language because what if Tuvalu is really going to be gone? At least there will still be people who can pass on knowledge. It's important to keep our traditions still going in case the island will be gone. If we forget about Tuvalu and our culture, what are we going to do?"
Patricia says she's thankful to have learned the value of nurturing Tuvaluan culture from her grandmother.
"Now that we see how important it really is, yeah it makes me proud to know that I still have my nana around to pass it on to whoever is willing to learn."
Lakiloko's exhibition will be on display until the 11th of November.
