Tongan artists, mother and daughter duo were selected by the Chinese World Craft Council, to showcase the art of Tongan tapa cloth making for the Dongyang Woodcraft and Bamboo Expo.

Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows and Tui Emma Gillies, told Tagata Pasifika, “We are excited to share our culture with the world. To give an insight to the traditional and contemporary arts of New Zealand and Tonga”.

The China Arts and Crafts Association, funded by the Chinese Government, selected a group of 18 artists from across the globe, to showcase their talents and share their cultural heritage. Among them included Tonga's reps Sulieti and Tui, Muslim Cossacks, Indians, Malaysians, and Australians representatives.

Sulieti has been working with hiapo from the age of five, and now her passion and love for the craft has taken her across the world. 

While at the Dongyang Woodcraft and Bamboo expo, they had the opportunity to interact with Master Artists from various regions of China.

“We took our 100-year-old ike over, to really give them a taste of our Tongan culture. A lot of them have not heard of Tonga before, so it was a very good opportunity to share our culture there through our art and craft.”

With their Chinese excursion coming to an end the Tongan artists look forward to their next adventure with the introduction of their latest artist.