Nana, Handicrafts of Rimatara

Tahiti, June 27, 2024 – Surrounded by pandanus plantations, Daliana Deane’s house stands out from the others in southern Tahiti. Originally from the Austral Islands, the 42-year-old artisan developed a passion late in life for the delicate art of Tuha’a Pae weaving, which her godmother introduced her to. With the help of her family, she nurtures, dries and strengthens this iconic natural fiber.
 
In Fenua ‘Aihere, Tautira, Daliana Deane’s garden stands out for its majestic pandanus trees. His house, nestled in this haven of peace, is a studio, set among pushpins and wooden forms, and long, windswept dried leaves hanging from the terrace. Nana, as she has been nicknamed since childhood, only looks up from her work when necessary. That morning, he was engrossed in knitting a purse.“I don’t like it when there are defects. There’s nothing worse than when a customer comes back because something went wrong”she confides in us between two hems.
 

Nana, who is from Rimatara through her mother, discovered her island as an adult. At 42, she has only been there twice. Although she pays homage to her origins through her talent for weaving, craftsmanship is not evident. “It runs in the family. My grandmother was a braider, my mother is also a braider, but I learned it from my godmother who participated in exhibitions. I started as her saleswoman, and then she decided to teach me how to braid when I was 20. At first I was not interested at all, but she did not give up. She wanted to pass on what she knew to me. Over time, it became a passion, to the point where I think about it at night and can’t wait to continue braiding and creating”she remembered.
 
From the largest salons in Papeete to personal orders, Daliana Deane has made her profession faithful to the kind fairy who knows how to guide her. Baskets, fans, shoulder straps, nothing resists her dexterity, except hats, an art she has not yet mastered. The Autrales weaving, exquisite and detailed, is popular for its color variations. For durability and quality, each piece is doubled: a basic braid is covered with a second, more decorative one. Nana has no difficulty in selling her work. “What we do, we know we’ll sell it”she assured. The same was true of raw pandanus rolls, which were particularly sought after during this period and used to make costumes for dance schools and black tile theatre companies.
 

Faced with demand, his family began planting pandanus trees from Rimatara in Tautira about eight years ago, where Nana left Faa’a to settle. “They are green laufraga without thorns. They grow well here since there is spring nearby. My husband is in charge of the harvest. He takes the opportunity to replant the new shoots”To dry the stems, which can be up to 11 centimeters wide, Nana’s hopes are all pinned on good weather conditions. “The enemy of pandanus is water! It rains a lot in Tautira, so drying is not easy, but we are getting there. As soon as the weather is good, we expose everything outside. When the leaves are beige, after two to three weeks of sunlight, we can start processing them.”she continued, and began to soften, stretch and roll up one of them with firm gestures, as an example.
 
To increase production capacity, Nana plans to plant more pandanus trees, including green and yellow varieties, with the help of relatives. In addition, a drying space is also planned. “The better I can dry the pandanus and make the rolls, the better I can work and satisfy my customers”she concludes. As a mother of four, she knows that if necessary she can count on the help of her two daughters, who have already started braiding, but most importantly, she hopes to pass on her passion to them one day.
 

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