Nestled in a vegetated area in Mākaha, Dalani Tanahy's workspace is adorned with photographs and Hawaiian barkcloth.
Not too far from her property are wauke, or paper mulberry trees, which she grows to make kapa. Tanahy has been practicing this ancient method for 30 years.
"I never thought I would be an artist for a living," she said. "But kapa has been taking very good care of me all these years, so I do my best to take care of it back."
Now, she's one of at least 40 Native Hawaiian kapa makers who will showcase their artistry next month at the Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture, the largest celebration of Indigenous Pacific Islanders.
"We get to show off how many kapa makers we have that are not only knowledgeable about this art, not only have their own tools, not only have their own resources but are also able to talk about it and teach it," Tanahy said.
The Hawaiian fabric art is made from the extracted bark of a paper mulberry tree. It's beaten, soaked, then dried before designs are printed onto it.
Kapa has existed since the early settlement of the Hawaiian Islands. It's been used in everyday life across the Pacific, specifically in Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. The traditional barkcloth has been used as clothing, bedding, funerary wrapping and more.
Kapa saw a revival during the Second Hawaiian Renaissance around the 1970s after the practice disappeared not long after European contact.
"When the Hōkūleʻa was being built, kapa was being revived at the same time," Tanahy said. "So when people talk about kapa as a dying art, it's not really, because those people really pushed hard to learn it, to teach it and to get tools made, (and) to get trees growing."
Tanahy said the art form is thriving, as there's been a growing number of kapa makers in Hawaiʻi, but noted it's a lot of work.
According to Tanahy, making kapa can take hours, days, weeks or months depending on the size.
If asked how many kapa Tanahy made in her lifetime, she will say over 1,000.
Tanahy was 18 years old when she discovered Hawaiian kapa for the first time at the Bishop Museum. But she said it took her 15 years to start learning it.
She's created pieces for the Dalai Lama, and her works have been displayed at the Bishop Museum, the British Museum and other institutions.
She also teaches workshops to build the next generation of kapa makers.
However, Tanahy said she never uses her name to sign her art.
"In Hawaiʻi, the kapa being less ceremonial-geared that it was being made more by artists, I actually had a really hard time ever signing a piece of kapa. I just made a symbol of my tattoo because it looks like a kapa design, and that's what I would stamp it with," she said.
During FestPAC, Tanahy and other kapa practitioners will be at the festival village hosted at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center.
She hopes the tradition of kapa making will be cultivated for generations to come.
"Hopefully, people will be able to make some reconnections with what it was like to be an island people," she said.
