Tuffery in World First

Michel Tuffery has become the first Polynesian artist to have a painting bought by the British Museum. “Cookie in the Cook Islands” illustrates factual and imagined stories of Captain James Cook’s explorations in the Pacific. The painting shows Captain Cook with Polynesian features and flowers in his hair and gives a Polynesian perspective on Cook and his voyages of exploration. Tuffery, 43, is of Samoan, Tahitian and Rarotongan descent, and says he used Cook’s name as if he was a personal friend. “Cookie is [also] a throwaway nickname for a Cook Islander.” The painting was bought last month for an undisclosed sum. British Museum curator Natasha McKinney said “[it] is an attractive, accessible and powerful representation of Captain James Cook, as a British audience will never have seen him before.” Tuffery is currently an artist-in-residence at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.