The Cook Islands and Rarotonga have a very fertile soil for Art

To show and share the local culture with visitors is certainly part of the artists' motivation, but there are other reasons why our art forms are thriving. In ancient Polynesia, artists and priest were both called Ta‘unga, enjoyed a special status and worked under the protection of the chiefs. Art in Polynesia was taken as serious as story telling in dance and tattooing, to mark authority and to give power or mana (super natural) to practical items like canoes and costumes.

While traditional arts took a beating after the arrival of the early missionaries, artists have emerged again. In the last 30 years, Cook Islands dance has developed to an increasingly creative art form with high standards, pushed further at the annual dance competitions.

Carving has also been revived. Traditional wood and stone sculpture have been rediscovered and new methods developed with intricate and original shapes and patterns. Early designs of voyaging canoes have been researched and adapted to modern materials and requirements, and a new generation of Vaka are now sailing the Pacific.

Tattooing is very popular again and new motifs continue to evolve.

Textile art is presently one of the most high-profile art forms in the Cook Islands. Old and new creations of Tivaivai are in museums and exhibitions are held internationally. Our distinctly own fashion designs are not only worn proudly in the 'Cooks', but also on catwalks overseas.

But of all the art forms practiced in the Cook Islands, painting has developed the most. 25 years ago you could have counted the local painters on one hand, including the few papa‘a (non-Polynesian) resident artists. The local branch of the University of the South Pacific (USP) organized workshops in 1984 and 1996 to promote painting, with established artists Pilioko and Michoutouchkine from Vanuatu telling the local and resident artists to get "cracking". Many of them did, and some never stopped.

Over the last 15 years, the local visual arts have been fertilized by several New Zealand and Australian trained artists returning to the Cook Islands. Together with dynamic new galleries on Rarotonga, they developed their ideas and created a vigorous art scene, encouraging several young artists to take up art as a career.

The following artists contribute with their imagination, some continue researching traditional images, and all create their own visual language to show and share their experiences, feelings and ideas.

Atua - Andrea Hewitt

Acrylic paintings of Cook Islands subjects on canvas.
Saturday market, Avatiu.

Andrea Atua Hewitt

Andrea Eimke

Fibre arts, tivaivai, clothing, sculptures, installations, jewelery.
Atiu Fibre Arts Studio.

Andrea Eimke

Ani Exham-Dun

Acrylic paintings of Polynesian patterns on board.
Saturday market, Avatiu.

Ani Exham-Dun

Ani O´Neil

Conceptual artist with fibres and mixed media, installations.
The Art Studio, Arorangi.

Ani O'Neil

Apii Rongo

Oil paintings, prints of traditional island life and themes.
Beachcomber Contemporary Art, Avarua.

Apii Rongo

Bianca Whittaker

Acrylics of stylized Cook Islands scenery, patterns.
The Art Studio, Arorangi.

Bianca Whittaker

Croc Caulter

Acrylic paintings of Polynesian tattoo patterns on canvas.
The Art Studio, Arorangi.

Croc Caulter

Kanoe Heidi Aquino

Acrylic and sand paintings of Pacific motifs on board.
Kota’a Art Ngatangi´ia.

Kanoe Heidi Aquino

Glenn Miller (Hori)

Oil and acrylic paintings on board of Polynesian patterns.
Moana Gems Gallery, Avarua.

Glenn Miller (Hori)

Ian George

Acrylic, oil and mixed media paintings on canvas and board. Totems of Cook Islands and Pacific themes.
The Art Studio, Arorangi.

Ian George

Jane Lamb

Acrylic and oil paintings of Cook Islands flora and fauna.

Jane Lamb

Jéanne Humphreys

Acrylic, oil, watercolour paintings on tapa and paper.
Atiu Tours & Homestay.

Jéanne Humphreys

Joan Rolls-Gragg

Oil paintings, woodcut prints of Cook Islands life.
The Art Studio, Arorangi.

Joan Rolls-Gragg

Judith Kunzlé

Prints, paintings of Cook Islands dancers, landscapes, tropical still lives. Moana Gems Galleries, Avarua and Koru Cafè, Aitutaki.

Judith Kunzlé

Kay George

Acrylic, oil and mixed media paintings on canvas and board, hand-painted textiles, dresses, T-shirts. The Art Studio, Arorangi.

Kay George

Loretta Reynolds

Acrylics on board of Cook Islands icons and patterns.
The Art Studio, Arorangi, Beachcomber Contemporary Art, Avarua.

Loretta Reynolds

Maria File

Oil paintings on canvas and board of Cook Islands subjects.
Saturday market, Avatiu.

Maria File

Michael and Awhitia Tavioni

Wood & stone carvings, traditional canoes.
Saturday market, Avatiu.

Michael and Awhitia Tavioni

Nga Vakapora

Silk screen designs on T-shirts.
NDS Nga Designs, O‘oa, Upper Tupapa.

Nga Vakapora

Papa Atera

Pastels on board of stylized Cook Island themes.

Papa Atera

Mahiriki Tangaroa

Oil paintings, prints, photography.
The Art Studio, Arorangi.

Mahiriki Tangaroa

Eruera Nia

Wood carvings & mixed media. Ina Nui Gallery, Avarua.

Eruera Nia

Tim Buchanan

Figurative and abstract oil and acrylic paintings of Island life. Beachcomber Contemporary Art, Avarua.

Tim Buchanan

Tokerau Jim

Pearl and pearl-shell carvings with traditional designs. Tokerau Jim studio store, opposite airport and Matavera, Rarotonga.

Tokerau Jim Tokerau Jim

Krick Barraud

Installations and acrylic paintings.
The Art Studio, Arorangi.

Krick Barraud

Varu Samuel

Oil & acrylic paintings of Cook Islands themes.
Beachcomber Contemporary Art, Avarua.

Varu Samuel