Atiu Fibre Arts Studio

The Studio for traditional and contemporary Polynesian textiles.

Since 1986, the Atiu Fibre Arts Studio has been producing art and craft works inspired by Cook Islands traditional textile art and created with modern knowledge and skills.

We combine colourful Polynesian motifs with contemporary design and innovative techniques of sewing and embroidery. We are best known for our tivaivai, the Cook Islands' traditional ceremonial cloths. "Tivaivai" means patchwork and is the general term for unpadded, unquilted, mostly appliquéd coverlets of about 2.50 m X 3.00 m, sometimes heavily embellished with intricate embroidery.

Embroidered tivaivai "My Beautiful Ei", © Andrea Eimke 2000

The National Culture Centre, banks and hotels on Rarotonga, and the Intercontinental Hotel on Maui (Hawaii) have commissioned us to create artwork for them. The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne (Australia) acquired one of our tivaivai for their permanent collection. Our works can be found in public and private collections in the Cook Islands and abroad.

The Atiu Fibre Arts Studio participated in and also organised a number of national and international textile exhibitions in the USA, Europe, Australia and Oceania. The company's director, Andrea Eimke, has lectured about the Cook Islands’ traditional ceremonial cloths and conducted several workshops.

The textile artworks of our company's founder and director Andrea Eimke have featured in several solo and group exhibitions at home and overseas. Andrea designs most of our works and enjoys the challenge of applying innovative techniques to private and corporate commissions.

(left: Wall quilt "Flower Girl", 40 cm X 40 cm, © Andrea Eimke 2007)

These include bed tivaivai, wall tivaivai, art quilts, textile collages, wearable art and art objects. We use a wide variety of materials and natural fibres: cotton, silk, linen, tapa (bark cloth). Many of our fabrics are hand-dyed to achieve the perfect colour match with the natural materials.

On request, we conduct private workshops in our studio for textile enthusiasts, who are interested in learning new textile techniques and enjoy working in a tranquil island environment.

Come and visit us on Atiu. Ask for information on specially commissioned textile artwork. If you would like to see more tivaivai, wall hangings, art quilts and fibre arts objects, request access to our comprehensive catalogue.

We look forward to meeting you!