Through natural imagery and reimagined textiles, Yuki Kihara’s kimono series tell stories of Samoan and Japanese identity.

The series

サ-モアのうた (Sāmoa no uta) A Song About Sāmoa - Vasa (Ocean) is the first phase in artist Yuki Kihara's series of siapo kimono. There are five phases in total. Each phase is comprised of five decorated kimono, made from barkcloth known in Sāmoa as siapo. 

The project explores cultural myths, trans-Pacific connections and cultural translations. 

Kihara was inspired to make the series after discovering a plain brown kimono owned by her grandmother in storage at her parents’ home. Rather than the bright colours often associated with kimono, the colour was more like that of Samoan siapo. 

Siapo over silk

Kihara’s project challenges traditional methods of making kimono, synthesizing Japanese and Samoan textile traditions to reflect her own lived Samoan-Japanese experience.

Kihara used siapo instead of traditional silk to make the kimono, decorated with images relating to historic and modern Samoan life. She based the design on furisode kimono, a style featuring long swinging sleeves.

Japanese influences and natural imagery

A Song About Sāmoa - Vasa (Ocean) is the first in Kihara's five-part series. Each of the five kimono are painted in the style of Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa. When viewed all together, the five kimono depict a tsunami that threatens to submerge several beach fales (Samoan raised huts). Just as Hokusai’s wave is about to overpower men in their small boats, similarly Kihara’s wave is about to wipe out the man-made structures. In both, the power of nature - of the ocean - dominates.

Samoan frangipani and the Japanese chrysanthemum are painted in the background as siapo motifs.

Various elements of Japanese art and culture are also visible on the kimono. The flock of birds are like chidori (plover), which are commonly shown flying over waves in Japanese art. The eel is painted with reference to the Japanese nihonga and ukiyo-e styles. The octopus is also painted in the style of popular ukiyo-e prints of the 18th and 19th century.

Environmental threat

The title of Kihara's series also references the lyrics of a Japanese song, サ-モアのうた (Sāmoa no uta), sung in primary schools. The song includes stereotypes of an unchanging Pacific paradise filled with white beaches, palm trees and clear blue waters. 

Kihara challenges these stereotypes through environmental imagery on the kimono. Plastic pollution is represented by rubbish floating on the water. A turtle swims toward a discarded plastic bag, while an octopus floats beside a single use plastic bottle. A skull next to white coral depicts bleached coral. 

In contrast, germinating coconuts floating on the surface of the water, represent hope in the face of these environmental threats as well as the strength and resilience of Oceanic communities. 

Making the kimono 

While the kimono were designed by Kihara, their production was a collaborative effort. Kihara consulted designers, artisans and family members both in Sāmoa and Japan to research kimono and siapo production. The 60 metres of siapo needed for the kimono were then made by Samoan siapo artisans. 

A Japanese nihonga illustrator helped with the animal designs. Members of Kihara’s family collected the shells and seed pods used to embellish the kimono. Yuki's family also helped to embroider and stitch the surface designs. This included beads, sheets of plastic and even a crab claw. 

A Song About Sāmoa - Vasa (Ocean) was on display in Rising Tide: Art and Environment in Oceania from 12 August 2023- 14 April 2024.

Vasa (Ocean) is the first phase in Yuki's series, which also includes Fanua (Land) 2021, Moana (Pacific Ocean) 2022, Taiheiyō (Pacific) 2023 and Tūlī's Flight (2023).  

A Song About Sāmoa - Vasa (Ocean) was acquired with Art Fund support.