Andrea Eimke

The creative spirit of the Atiu Fibre Arts Studio

Detail of sampler, showing the letters of her name stitched in Reticella Lace - © A. Eimke 1981

Andrea has worked as interpreter, translator and secretary in Spain, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, before she opted for a career change and decided to turn her love for textiles into a profession. In 1982 she graduated at the Chamber of Industry and Trade following a two-year apprenticeship as embroiderer in her home-town of Duesseldorf, Germany. After two years in Nigeria, Andrea established a new home with her husband Juergen Manske-Eimke on Atiu in the Cook Islands.

Together with six other women of Atiu, Andrea initiated the Atiu Fibre Arts Studio in 1986 and has been the company’s chief designer and director ever since. She has also been one of the founding members and vice president of the Cook Islands Tivaivai Association from 1998 to 2008. She has been involved in curating a number of national and international tivaivai exhibitions and conducted workshops in tivaivai design and techniques on Atiu, Rarotonga, New Zealand, Australia and Spain.
Detail of tapa, lace and cotton quilt "My upside-down Island", exhibited in Budapest in 2003

"Tivaivai - The social Fabric of the Cook Islands"

Andrea is co-author of the book  “Tivaivai – The Social Fabric of the Cook Islands” by Dr. Susanne Kuechler, a professor of anthropology at the University College of London, which was published by British Museum Press (March 2009).

Art inspired by two worlds

Andrea has exhibited her works worldwide in group and solo exhibitions.

She is currently enrolled in a two-years MA in Art and Design with Auckland University of Technology, which is conducted in the Cook Islands. Some of the art objects displayed on this web site are her recent practical studies.

Detail of tapa-lace sculpture "Home"

Since1986, Andrea has been researching and experimenting with tapa, bark cloth, collecting historical and cultural information while working with the traditional fibre experts in Atiu. During 1987/88 she conducted extensive research and explored the methods of tapa making with the Atiu Fibre Arts Studio.

Andrea creates objects that show a synthesis of Polynesian and European materials and techniques, inspired by her life on Atiu.