Climbing up the stairs of King Street Station to enter the Office of Art and Culture, one is immediately struck by a giant work of art by Tongan artist Benedicta Kongaika titled Tapa (2020), made of traditional mulberry bark. Tapa marks the entrance to an exhibit called Sina: From Tonga to Seattle with bold scale and vision, offering a powerful introduction to both Benedicta Kongaika’s practice and the broader Pacific Islander art movement in the Pacific Northwest.
In Tongan and Samoan mythology, Sina is a figure of beauty and transformation. One famous legend tells of an elder Fijian king who, enchanted by Sina, used his spiritual power, or mana to transform into an eel. He gave his life so she could drink from the first coconut—his eyes and mouth symbolized in the fruit’s three holes. That story, passed down across Oceania, is not only about love, but also death, rebirth, and origin. The legend continues as Sina’s daughter, also named Sina, and another figure of allure and lineage—settles in Tonga and establishes important familial lines across generations.
Another Sina is honored in King Street Station: The matriarch of Benedicta Kongaika, Sina Ana Alo’itafuna Tupoa Schneider, who was born in Niuafoʻou, Tonga in 1927 and became a beloved community leader in Seattle’s Pacific Islander community. Through this exhibit, Kongaika honors the legacy of her grandmother; a woman who laid the foundation for Tongan cultural arts and community-building across King County. Her grandmother’s spirit infuses the entire show. Through this exhibit, Kongaika also uplifts a new generation of vibrant Tongan artists across King County, including the celebrated Toka Valu, Katokakala Lutui, slick ric James, and Jon Thompson.
Jon Thompson’s works are primarily acrylic on canvas, and express a fusion of Pacific Northwest localized culture, East Asian history, and Polynesian identity. Seattle’s beloved Bruce Lee, The Golden Dragon (ND) uplifts the pupil who remains true to themselves. Another Thompson piece, Hibiscus Tribal (ND) is meant to tell the story of a generalized diasporic representation. slick ric James acrylic on canvas is meant to represent his hafekasi (biracial) identity and family memory, juxtaposing ancestral Pasifika wayfaring traditions with personal histories, some of which are shaped by proximity to gang life. His work navigates the trauma while remaining humbled by it. An object d’art piece comprising a mirror, a brass gate, and air-brushed paint by James titled no straddling (2025), is meant to represent spiritual warfare.
Spirituality, embodied and intangible, threads through the exhibition, often expressed through the bark of the hiapo (mulberry tree). After encountering Kongaika’s Tapa, visitors notice a piece of untreated bark cloth suspended nearby—an invitation to reflect on material before meaning After encountering Tapa, visitors pass a display of raw, unadorned bark cloth as an invitation to reflect on the material’s sacred significance before form and motif. One immediately looks up to see a whirling piece by Lutui, titled Ahosivi Haufano (2024), representing a flower transforming into full bloom. Natural pigments and patterns of this striking artwork continue the intangible cultural traditions of Tonga, including the usage of tapa Ngatu, a type of tapa cloth made from the inner bark lining of the hiapo (mulberry) tree, a significant cultural art form in Tonga. There are many traditional patterns of the ngatu that are carefully bundled into the flower which represents different migratory stories and identity.
The ngatu immersion flows onto glass windows at King Street Station, created by Toka Valu, who has created many celebrated public pieces of artwork throughout Seattle from Ballard to Chinatown International District, Delridge Neighborhood Association, to Seattle College. Mala mo Monu, (2025), a diptych by Valu, represents the duality of Tongan identity. A vivid dream that expresses the misfortune and the blessings that contemporary life and plurality presents to communities struggling to maintain cultural traditions and resilience.
Wings of Unity, and Star of Life (2024), by Kongaika are two artworks that finish the exhibit, to the left of a digital video of Benedicta’s artmaking process. Wings expresses the traditional Manalua motif of two birds in flight, representing unity, harmony, and relational balance. The piece is framed by the heilala, Tonga’s national flower, reminding viewers that we are always spiritually supported, and guided by love and purpose. The fetu’u in Star and Life furthers Kongaika’s faith-driven artwork, reminding us of both ancestral celestial wayfaring science–navigating the oceans and geography by starlight, which to Benedicta is God’s light, which are timelessly intertwined in Tongan traditions. In Tonga, the churches remain vital spaces where elders and youth come together to actively shape cultural language, values, and the arts, offering spiritual grounding amid the pressures of globalization.
The Sina exhibit at King Street Station creates a dynamic intergenerational dialogue, connecting the wisdom of ancestors with the experiences of contemporary Tongan artists in the diaspora. Benedicta Kongaika’s homage to her grandmother, Sina Ana Alo’itafuna Tupoa Schneider, underscores the importance of honoring those who paved the way for future generations. The exhibit demonstrates how Tongan artists are actively negotiating their identities, blending traditional motifs with modern mediums to express the complexities of their lived realities. The Sina exhibit invites viewers to contemplate the enduring power of culture, community, and spirituality in shaping the transnational Tongan experience, reminding us of the importance of honoring our roots while adapting to a pluralistic contemporary life.
From Lutui’s blooming flower to Valu’s visual meditation on duality, each piece tells a story of migration, adaptation, and the strength of Tongan traditions. By amplifying these diverse artistic voices, Benedicta Kongaika fosters a space of dialogue, resilience, and celebration. As the heilala flowers bloom in Wings of Unity, they remind us, we are always spiritually supported—guided by love, memory, and purpose. It’s a message that resonates far beyond the walls of King Street Station.
