Context (Display)
Exhibited in the Andrews Gallery, from 10 October 2025 till 6 February 2026.
Display label reads, 'Uo (kites) / Hinatea Colombani and Moe Meder, 2025
If you look up, you can see two uo (kites) of tapa (barkcloth), created by beating the inner bark of aute (paper mulberry).
Artists Hinatea Colombani and Moe Meder made the kites as a creative response to 'Portrait of Mai' painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds around 1776. Mai was born on Ra'iatea, a Pacific island in French Polynesia. As a young boy, Mai's father was killed and his family took refuge on nearby Tahiti. When English explorers James Cook and Tobias Furneax sailed past Tahiti in 1773, Mai asked to join Furneaux's ship. In 1774, Mai became the first Polynesian person to visit England, where he lived for two years.
Hinatea and Moe were inspired by a story of Mai flying kites while he lived in England. Today, people on Tahiti often make and fly kites in July when the mara'amu wind passes through.'
Event Date 10/10/2025
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu

Description (Physical description)
Uo #4. Lozenge-shaped barkcloth kites with cane struts made by Hinatea Colombani and Moeava Meder. The left half is dyed brown and decorated with black geometric patterns. Four projecting elements on the sides and two on the lower edge.

Loaned in for exhibition 'Journeys with Mai' (2025).
Event Date 10/10/2025
Author: Guey-Mei Hsu