Art of Tuvalu

The Art of Tuvalu has traditionally been expressed in the design of clothing and traditional handicrafts such as the decoration of mats and fans. Tuvaluan clothing was traditionally made from Fala leaves (Screw Pine or Pandanus).

The material culture of Tuvalu uses traditional design elements in artifacts used in everyday life such as the design of canoes and fish hooks made from traditional materials. The design of women's skirts (titi) and tops (teuga saka), that are used in performances of the traditional dance songs of Tuvalu, represents contemporary Tuvaluan art and design.

The collection of the Museum of New Zealand holds Tuvaluan artifacts and handicraft, including a man's jacket and a Mother Hubbard dress made from pandanus leaves that were made following the impact of Christian missionaries who demanded that the women of Tuvalu adopt more conservative clothing as compared to traditional Tuvaluan clothing.

The women of Tuvalu use cowrie and other shells in traditional handicrafts decoration of mats, fans and wall hangings that use dyed fibres woven in traditional designs.Crochet (kolose) is one of the art forms practiced by Tuvaluan women.

A traditional headband (fau o aliki) or headdress (kula, pale) made out of pandanus, such as those prepared for the inauguration of a chief (aliki) would follow a specific design and the task of creating the headband or headdress is often reserved to a specific person, such as a daughter of the chief. The traditional floral garland of a young woman (Te fou ote tamafine) or a headdress for a woman (fou) would also follow a specific design using tiale (gardenia), pua (guettarda speciosa) and melia (frangipani).

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