Ke’a tuki
2012
Traditionnal lava pestle from Hiva Oa (Marquesis Islands), Jesmonite, minneral black pigment, dark gray composite wood
47,2 x 5,9 x 14,37 inches (120 x 15 x 36,5 cm)

The piece entitled "Ke'a tuki" of the Marquesan name given to these traditional drumsticks carved in the volcanic lava,
deals with the cultural relationship to the copy that the inhabitants of the Marquesas.
Copying means ensuring the transmission of ancestral know-how and preserving what remains of their culture.
Starting from a traditional example of pestle typical of the island of Hiva Oa, realized by a local sculptor,
follows a series of eight "clones" which depigment themselves in stages, forming a shade of gray until white .
The traditional Marquesan pestle is one of the last vestiges of ancestral culture (religion, language, mythology, art, oral traditions, dance, music),
largely eradicated in the 19th century by colonization, Evangelization of populations.
It is traditionally designed by men and used by women for the elaboration of various traditional dishes such as the famous Popoi '
(Fermented puree from the fruit of the breadfruit tree). Ergonomic and of good maneuverability, the ke'a tuki pestle,
proud of its various phallic forms (declined from island to island) is still found today in every kitchen (suspended from the top to a rope)
One of the identity objects of the Marquesan culture. This series evokes again the question of the original and the multiple in sculpture,
and takes a look at this utilitarian and artisanal object which has not yet been substituted by a product of the industrial era.
This line of pestles of the same shape, thus deals with the alteration by the copy and the progressive cultural decline.
Or, if we reverse the sense of reading by positioning ourselves face to face with the white pestle,
the piece evokes a return to the sources, an identity rediscovered.