Te Tai - Te Mae Ni Maie (headdress for dancing)

Headdresses such as these are created by women and form an intrinsic part of the striking ornamentation worn by I-Kiribati men and women for dance performances. A unique attribute of I-Kiribati dance is the bird-like movement of the performers’ heads, which is associated with the frigatebird, a tropical ocean seabird. Adorning the head like a crown, each headdress’s extended and looped fibre strips accentuate the dancer’s movements. Louisa Humphry and Kaetaeta Watson work with both customary natural fibres and brightly coloured plastics, materials found in equal abundance locally, to create their striking and contemporary headpieces.