Sisi Panikoula
'Api 'O Nisi
This project centres widely on exploring cultural appreciation through the journey of my grandmother. The journey of understanding how her battle with dementia has led to creating a keepsake artefact that holds treasured memories for her to cherish. This acknowledges the close ties of my cultural journey and finding connection through my grandmother. It is also a combination of both creative passions of visual art and design and aims to show my love for my culture.
The overall outcome of the project looks at three components, the Tapa Cloth, Concertina Booklet, and a Box.
The Tapa Cloth gifted in the form of a keepsake item brings great familiarity to my grandmother, in her language, knowledge, and culture. Here the written narrative of extracted conversations is illustrated, depicting memories she reminisced on. The Tapa Cloth is a vessel of connection and a key component of the project. It is a form of storytelling without the book. The method of using ScreenPrinting delivers a tactile print to the quality. The rough texture of the Tapa allows for the ink to bleed through in most areas. Despite missing a few patches, this is the intention to show the imperfections of the Tapa and its natural state.
The Concertina Booklet expands further on understanding the Tapa Cloth, itself. In a sense playing as an informative tool yet sentimentally designed for the grandmother's use only. The folded structure gives insight into the meaning behind the designs and their key purpose. The folded accordion pages allow my grandmother to simply read through them at once and as a display. This initiates an ongoing interest that is not limited compared to the traditional page book bombarded with words.
Upon reflecting on my grandmother's battle with dementia, I identified ways of incorporating sensory touch into the keepsake Box. For this, I recognized that adding a sensory feel to the box it could initiate memories or a reminder of her time in Tonga. Allowing for conversations, and emotions to open where my grandmother is able to interact emotionally and physically. The box itself is designed in familiarity with the culture. Here, it draws my grandmother to revisit the box, each time bringing a new experience. The sense of touch is located through the carvings and dimensions featured on the box.
The overall outcome depicts a culturally driven and heartfelt experience that accommodates my grandmother. The three components hold a significance of love and care to the Tongan culture while upholding the cultural values.
