An international collaboration between the Tiapapata Art Centre, Puke Ariki, and the Museum of Stone Tools. The Museum of Stone Tools (MoST) partnered with Puke Ariki Museum to digitally and physically recreate a rare Samoan hafted stone adze. Using high-resolution images captured in New Zealand, MoST’s photogrammetry team overcame challenges to produce a detailed 3D model and a physical replica via 3D printing in Australia.
The replica travelled to Samoa for an adze-making workshop, serving as a reference for traditional crafting. This collaboration demonstrates how accessible digital tools can overcome barriers to cultural artefacts, supporting education, heritage preservation, and cultural revitalization across international borders.
Nicholas Setteducato: Nick is the Digital Engagement and Support Supervisor for the Cultural Enterprises Team at New Plymouth District Council, working with Puke Ariki Museum and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre. Nick graduated from New York University with a degree in visual arts in 2001, and he has spent the past 20 years working with collections in the film and GLAM industries in New Zealand and in New York City. Nick explores new tools such as virtual reality, virtual tours, and augmented reality, and he is focused on finding effective solutions to apply these innovations in a small institution across exhibitions, collections and education teams.
PROJECT COLLABORATORS
Mark Moore, University of New England: Mark Moore is an ARC Future Fellow in the Department of Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology, and director of the online Museum of Stone Tools. His research explores how the evolution of hominin cognition—the way that humans think—is reflected in the way they organised their stone-flaking techniques to produce tools. Prof Moore applies his research by collaborating with Aboriginal communities to rediscover and reclaim the stone-working practices on traditional country.
Galumalemana Steven Percival, Tiapapata Art Centre: Galumalemana Steven Percival is a photographer and videographer with particular interest in Samoa’s rich natural and cultural heritage, the indigenous ecological knowledge of the Samoans, human rights issues in Samoa’s communal society, and religious freedom. Together with his wife Wendy, they established the Tiapapata Art Centre, a charitable trust promoting traditional and contemporary arts and crafts in Samoa.
Galumalemana is a revivalist heritage artist, and a professional photographer and videographer. Recognised for his research and advocacy of Sāmoa’s rich natural and cultural heritage, he has built up a body of work capturing the indigenous ecological knowledge of the Samoans. Interested in the impacts of globalization, he has also produced an extensive visual record of the social discourses in Samoan society, exploring such issues as climate change, health, and human rights, winning him the 2024 Samoa Human Rights Champion Award (Media). Together with his wife Wendy, a highly accomplished multidisciplinary artist and art educator, he established the Tiapapata Art Centre Inc., a charitable trust promoting traditional and contemporary arts and crafts in Samoa.