_AT_RH_TE _OL O_F S_NT I _{I’ I}P_HU_{A U}

craftzine.com/04/ipu

CRAFTER

BY KRIS BORDESSA

Michael Harburg and Bill Wright rediscover an ancient island craft.

When Captain James Cook sailed to the island of Ni’ihau in the late 1700s, he noted that the natives’ household equipment was limited to “a few gourds and wooden bowls.” The residents of Ni’ihau used hardshell gourds to carry liquids. Artifacts discovered on the island show that these gourds, or ipu, were beautiful as well as functional. Geometric patterns adorned the gourds in deep chocolate hues; the artistry on each melded with its background as neatly as a man tattooed.

With the influx of people to Hawaii in the 19th and 20th centuries, Western crockery replaced native vessels, and the art of gourd decoration became obsolete. The Ni’ihau artists who had handcrafted those gorgeous ipu took their secrets to the grave.

While most gourds of this era
were dyed from the outside,
Chrisman discovered that the
Ni’ihau gourds were dyed from
the inside out.

But today, in the petite hill town of Holualoa on Hawaii’s Big Island, artists Michael Harburg and William A. Wright work amid glossy dried gourds, creating ipu art with a technique re-created 17 years ago by a doctor named Bruce Ka’imiloa Chrisman. Chrisman had researched the vessels to figure out how they were made, re-creating a dye method similar to what he believed the ancient

Hawaiians used. While most gourds of this era were dyed from the outside, Chrisman discovered that the Ni’ihau gourds were dyed from the inside out.

“Michael learned about the method from Bruce Chrisman, and started carving gourds as a hobby,” says Wright. When Wright saw Harburg playing around with this method, he was inspired to try it himself, and quickly added carved ipu pieces to his repertoire. Eventually, the two partnered in developing the Ipu Hale Gallery.

Harburg and Wright use Chrisman’s method and modern tools to remove the skin from green gourds, leaving behind geometric patterns and island scenes. When an image is complete, they fill the gourd with thick black coffee — the seeds and pulp still intact — and allow the gourd to sit for several weeks. The uncarved areas, still green, draw the dark color of the coffee out into the skin through capillary action. The carved areas remain light in color. Then the dyed gourds are emptied, cleaned, dried, and sealed to last a lifetime.

“Every gourd is different,” says Wright. “Each one absorbs the dye a little differently, so some have a softer look, while others are very bold.”

Both men are happy to talk about their art with those who visit Ipu Hale. But there’s one group of people that Harburg would particularly like to share the process with. “Someday, I’d love to take what I’ve learned to the people of Ni’ihau, to bring it full circle.” ×

 

Kris Bordessa uses found objects and recycled items for most of the projects in her books, the latest of which is Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself. krisbordessa.com