Falepipi he Mafola ("House of Peace") is a

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

an handicrafts group based in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The organisation's members first came together on 1 April 1993, and Falepipi he Mafola was formally incorporated on 19 August 1994. It was founded with the aim of empowering older Niueans and bringing them together as a community, as well as sustaining their connection to their home island. Its members meet weekly in the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

suburb of

Ōtāhuhu Ōtāhuhu is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand – to the southeast of the CBD, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tāmaki River estuary to the east. The Auckland isthmus is the narrowest connect ...

. Its founding members included

Molima Molly Pihigia Molima Molly Pihigia is a Niuean weaver, arts advocate and healthcare worker based in New Zealand. She founded Falepipi he Mafola, a Niuean handcraft group, in 1993. Life and career Pihigia was born in Alofi, Niue, and moved to Wellington, ...

, who migrated from Niue to New Zealand in 1970, and her husband Fataiki Pihigia. Other notable members have included Tiresa Fasi, Foufili Halagigie, and Mokahele Halagigie. Although its mission centres older craftspeople, members range in age from their 30s to their 90s; they are primarily women. Falepipi he Mafola primarily produces Niuean

woven Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics, often created on a loom, are made of many threads woven in a warp and weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to one anot ...

handicrafts such as ''lili'' (wall hangings), ''iliili'' (hand fans), trays, and baskets. Other handicrafts produced include carvings and netting. Its members generally use materials that are easier to source in Auckland, such as

raffia Raffia palms are members of the genus ''Raphia''. The Malagasy language, Malagasy name is derived from ' "to squeeze #Raffia wine, juice". The genus contains about twenty species of Arecaceae, palms native to tropical regions of Africa, and esp ...

, ''kaniu'' (coconut leaf ribs), and recycled plastic, rather than the traditional ''laufa'' (

pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified ...

leaves).{{Cite journal , last=Thode-Arora , first=Hilke , date=2007 , title="How Can We Weave in a Strange Land?" Niuean Weavers in Auckland , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23412049 , journal=Pacific Arts , volume=3/5 , pages=46–59 , jstor=23412049 , issn=1018-4252 The group has also released recordings of Niuean songs and hymns, including 2005's ''Niue Haku Motu Volume 1'' and 2010's ''Fanogonogo Ke He Leo Volume 2'', and worked to promote the

Niuean language Niuean (; ) is a Polynesian language, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian languages. It is most closely related to Tongan and slightly more distantly to other Polynesian languages such as Māori, Samoan, and Haw ...

. In 2009, the organisation was awarded the Pacific Heritage Art Award as part of the

Arts Pasifika Awards The Arts Pasifika Awards celebrate excellence in Pacific arts in New Zealand. The annual awards are administered by Creative New Zealand and are the only national awards for Pasifika artists across all artforms. The Arts Pasifika Awards includ ...

for its "active community engagement with promotion of Niuean heritage arts." Pieces produced by the group are included in the collection of

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa (Māori language, Māori for 'Waka huia, the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the Nation ...

, New Zealand's national museum.

References

New Zealand artist groups and collectives Niuean artists Organisations based in Auckland 1993 establishments in New Zealand