Post #306954 by AlienTiki on Thu, May 17, 2007 4:07 AM

Aloha gang, TCers and lurkers. Today I was lucky enough to get away from the house for a while and go check out some carvers from all over the Pacific. Fortunately they are all here on Maui for Maui International Festival of Canoes. Dubbed "Maui's Signature Cultural Heritage Event." I figured I could use some cultural heritage enrichment or whatevahs and while I'm at it share it with all of you.

When I arrived I could almost feel the energy in the air(or was it the saw dust?) The first thing you see when entering the park is this huge Hale Halawai (meeting house) It's quite impressive even in this premature state. I'm not certain if it is to be finished at the end of the festival.

The Pahu carver was MIA.:cry:
When you walk past the meeting house you are greeted by roaring sounds of 2stroke engines in full swing as about a dozen chainsaws buzz away at some massive logs.

The first carvers I see are a group of Tongan men carving a Whale. They all seem quite content smiling as they work together. one worked on the barnacles and protuberances on the giant whale as another chipped away at his fluke.


Then what did I see directly behind them? It was the tallest tiki I think I've seen. It's laying down and barely started but I can already tell it will be impressive.

Then I checked out the custom old school boards. Here's Shaper Kenny Tilton with a beauty of a board. They had some killer paipos too.

The Moolele hauled out.

Then I made my way around to the New Zealand Waka area and they're are carving this cool TekoTeko

It was a lot of fun and I'll post more info about the carvers soon. I'm gonna go back to get some shots of the finished art works as well.

Aloha
E

[ Edited by: AlienTiki 2007-05-17 04:08 ]

[ Edited by: AlienTiki 2008-06-26 16:49 ]