Langafonua 'a Fafine Tonga Pandanus Mat - 02

These pandanus mats is woven by Langafonua 'a Fafine Tonga, the Women's Council of Tonga, using tofua leaves harvested from the bush, stripped of their spikes, boiled, dried in the sun, then rolled and cut into narrow strips ready for weaving. Every mat is made entirely by hand by a single weaver, with the finest work taking the longest and commanding the highest value. Depending on its size, a finished mat serves as a wall hanging, bedding, flooring, or something to sit on at the beach, woven in an interlocking pattern related to the Tokelau Feletoa design. In Tonga, mats carry weight beyond the everyday, used at births, deaths and weddings, sat upon by the King and nobles during formal occasions, and wrapped around the bodies of the dead as a mark of respect at funerals, passed down through generations as a marker of status. This mat was made through Langafonua's involvement in Ocean WE'VE, a collaborative weaving project between Powerhouse and Blacktown Arts bringing together Western Sydney's Pacific communities for the opening of Powerhouse Parramatta.