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Cook Islands Art & Craft
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Cook Islands Art The Cook Islanders are fine artisans. Cook Islands dancing is considered by many to be the best in the Pacific and the accompanying upbeat drumming is certainly renowned amongst its contemporary neighbours. Traditional art evolves around decorative wood carvings, tattooing and tapa cloth designs. Tattooing became taboo after the introduction of Christianity in the mid 1800s but is now becoming popular again amongst Cook Islands men. Designs are based on family heritage and in ancient times, the body was symbolized with ones life. Tapa cloth has all but being neglected, but is still prominent in neighbouring Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. The phallic male god, Tangaroa, was a favourite subject for wood carvings and several fine examples can be seen in the Cook Islands Museum in Avarua Town, along with other replica wood carvings like large hollowed bowls, story boards and war clubs (most of the originals are in the Auckland Museum). There are several good contemporary carvers working local wood and supplying the boutique shops with Tangaroa statues and other tourist trinkets like the pate slit drums. My favourite handicrafts are undoubtedly the fine hats and fans woven from the young shoots of the palm tree. These come mostly from the Northern Group where women spend hours each day preparing the leaves to make them subtle for the fine weaving required to make these stunning pieces of art. There are some nice examples of earrings woven from this material. A fairly recent introduction to local art are the colourful Tivaevae. These hand-made quilts have been adopted as the item to symbolize ones passage of life. Every Cook Islander owns one, usually presented as a gift on their 18th birthday and these are brought out at all important ceremonies and finally laid to rest with the owner on death. Black pearls are the latest fashion items in the Cook Islands. Farmed in the still lagoons of the Northern Group, the highly prized Cook Islands black pearls can be found in all shapes and forms at every boutique shop around the island. Book your Holiday with the Specialists:  South Pacific Holidays & Resorts ; Beautiful Cook Islands Holidays & Resorts fiji resorts & holidays ; samoa resort & holidays ; tonga resort & holidays ; tahiti resort & holidays ; vanuatu resorts & holidays ; new caledonia resort & holidays ; australia resort & holidays |
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This Accommodation Guide is brought to you by South Pacific Pictures, the photographic division of Pacific Travel Guides. This leading independent travel publisher is based in Fiji and aims to provide unbiased travel information to help potential holiday-makers plan their trip to the South Pacific. We do not sell individual hotels, tours or packages - we simply provide an overview to help you make the decision and provide links for you to make further enquiries and bookings. All the pictures in this website have been taken by us and try to show a true representation of our destinations. No picture has been staged - all were taken as presented. Our energetic team of researchers and photographers travel around the south pacific on a regular basis to update our guides and to ensure their accuracy. Please feel free to contribute your own travel experiences to pass on to fellow travellers. If you haven't been able to find what you're looking for in our website, you might want to try South Pacific Travel Guides - the regions most comprehensive travel guide for the islands: Fiji Travel ; Cook Islands Travel ; Samoa Travel ; Tonga Travel ; Tahiti Travel ; Hawaii Travel ; Oahu Travel ; Kauai Travel ; Maui Travel ; Big Island Hawaii Travel Alternatively, if you're simply after accommodation, search South Pacific Resorts the largest directory of hotels in the South Pacific with thousands of unique photographs, location maps and unbiased write ups: Cook Islands Resorts ; Fiji Resorts ; Samoa Resorts ; Tonga Resorts ; Tahiti Resorts ; Vanuatu Resorts ; New Caledonia Resorts ; Hawaii Resorts. Beautiful Holidays - specialist travel agent based in Australia offering personalized booking assistance South Pacific Travel Resources - selection of accredited website links Last Updated by  Pacific Travel Guides PO Box 10146, Nadi Airport, Fiji Contact Us |
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