Kiribati

The Block

Baiaa and Dale Teangauba’s design artfully blends a variety of colourful materials to create a beautiful portrait of the island nation of Kiribati. The woven background is an example of mats typically produced by local women. Layers of coconut frond mats traditionally cover floors of Kiribati homes, while those made from pandanus leaves are used for sleeping. Mats are highly valued items in Kiribati. It is customary for couples to have long engagements in order to provide the bride’s family time to weave sleeping mats for their new son-in-law and his family.

The sea is essential to Kiribati’s survival and bands of gathered ribbon in the foreground depicts gentle ocean waves, over which a golden sun rises. The distinctive smocking of the ‘sun’ is characteristically found on a woman’ tibuta, the national cotton blouse. Three cowrie shell flowers represent each of the island groups into which Kiribati is divided. Young girls frequently use cowrie shells for decoration when performing the national dance, the ruoia. The shark tooth pattern framing the piece symbolizes Kiribati’s traditional fighting swords, which were made of polished coconut wood with shark teeth sharply filed and lashed to the two edges.

Cultural Profile

Kiribati (pronounced ‘KIHR uh bas’) is a small island nation located in the central Pacific Ocean, about 4,000 kilometres southwest of Hawaii. Once ruled by Britain as half of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, its name is the native pronunciation of ‘Gilbert.’ Kiribati consists of 32 coral islands and one isolated volcanic island, Banaba (formerly Ocean Island). About 20 of the islands are permanently inhabited. They are divided into three groups: the Gilbert Islands (16 islands including Tarawa, on which the capital, Bairiki, is located), the Phoenix Islands (8 islands) and the Line Islands (8 islands including Kiritimati, Christmas Island). The latter island has the world’s largest coral atoll that accounts for half the country’s land area. Kiribati, which straddles the equator, was once divided by the International Date Line. In 1995 however, the line was moved to the nation’s eastern border bringing all the islands into the same time zone. The overwhelming majority of the population is of Micronesian descent and the people call themselves ‘I-Kiribati’. The official language is English, although Gilbertese (Kiribati) is widely spoken.

I-Kiribati are proud, resourceful and fun-loving people. Their culture is complex and diverse, with each island practicing its own unique customs, rituals and lifestyle. There are however, common threads tying the various groups together. Family is the focus of society and, most islanders live in rural villages which are centred on the maneaba (meeting place). Most are engaged in subsistence farming and fishing. The islands offer little access to potable water, and farming can prove difficult because of poor soil conditions. As a result, the innovative I-Kiribati use every possible resource on the island. The coconut trees, for example, provide them with shells to make bowls, trunks for timber, husks to make twine, fronds for thatching, milk for drink, and sap for syrup or sweeteners.

Traditional dancing, one of the highest forms of expression in Kiribati, is an integral part of the culture that draws the communities together. The movements of the dances are based on bird movements, distinguishing them from other national dances in Oceania. Chanting, which honours achievements such as initiation rites, is also a central activity at special events. It is accompanied by body percussion, or hands mark the rhythm on a large wooden cube. National handcrafts include baskets and mats woven from pandanus or coconut leaves, fans, jewelry, and cups made from coconut and sea shells. Models of Gilbertese canoes and houses, and Kiribati swords made of polished coconut wood with shark’s teeth are also popular.

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