Author: Aline

The ‘Matavaa’ Marquesan Arts Festival
Tahuata island, French Polynesia
December 2017

A time to celebrate and practice cultural traditions including dance, tattoo, music, slow food, and handicrafts with talented artists from all of the six inhabited Marquesan islands.

Dance, feast, swim, party!! A wonderful place to make friends and truly experience sustainable, delicious and spectacular manifestations!

The next Matavaa is in 2019 on Ua Pou island, it will be much bigger than this ‘mini festival’ on Tahuata island… in fact, the dancers on Ua Pou are already starting to practice!

See you there 🙂 – Aline

               
                      

Saturday evening ambiance in Geneva

Bordered by cities & crossed by bridges
yet her waters remain crystal clear
Lake Léman (aka Lake Geneva)

Lakeside playground made of up-cycled bicycle tubes and tires!

 

Sunrise view of Mont Blanc from Villars sur Ollon

The sun is just about to peek over L’Argentine at 10:30
illuminating the shady trail to Bovonne
melting frosty moss

 

contact me: aline@alinedargie.com

Teaching a Marquesan friend in Fatu Hiva how to weave palm frond baskets, a skill I learned from apprenticing with a master weaver in Fakarava.

Freediving in Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, like taking a relaxing walk in the park to enjoy this natural environment in the most low impact way possible.

I am a bit obsessed with making patterns like this one

Aline (b.1991, American) adventured from her hometown in Andover Massachusetts to San Francisco at age 16 to study Textiles at California College of the Arts. She focused on hand weaving silk, and dyeing with natural indigo, using Japanese shibori techniques, while earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Aline co-founded and ran Make Hang for three years, an atelier featuring upcoming artists making sculptural, interactive installations, with an emphasis on slow textiles. In the gallery, the communities of North Beach and Chinatown San Francisco enjoyed yoga, DIY eco-friendly art workshops and slow food dinners.

Since sailing under the Golden Gate bridge and into the ocean three years ago, Aline sailed 20,000 miles in total and earned her Yachtmaster certificate. Today, Aline is the captain of Pizza. She loves to make things, write, freedive, and is currently studying astronavigation using a sextant. Aline has been calling Fakarava home port with photographer and chef Julien Girardot (jugirardot.com) for one year and is also the volunteer captain for the Project Va’a Motu sailing canoe.

Aline Dargie sailing CV

Aline Dargie Resume 6 2015

Aline (at) makehang.com

Learn about my experiences sailing, owning an art gallery, working as an independent textile artist in San Francisco, and my other creative adventure paths

Often times, I just can’t stop smiling! I really enjoy the life and work hard

A joyful afternoon skippering a sailboat in San Francisco

All images above: © jugirardot.com

Whats next?

Project Slow Marquesas!

Explore challenged Julien Girardot and I from Project Va’a Motu in Fakarava to make an example and challenge our audience to make their own recycled sailing canoes to withstand the harsh natural forces of… a hairdryer. And now we challenge YOU!
When friends Boris Skater, Virginie, Lina Huan, Mahine Leplus and Vetea Leplus, visited us in Fakarava from Miami and Tahiti, we gathered plastics and other materials from the reef side of the atoll, washed up from the ocean, for each of us to build our own imaginative sailing craft. We used old plastic ropes to lash the parts together like on ancient canoes, and plastic bottles for flotation.
Later, we ventured to the lagoon and organized a regatta of our little boats- and “Sparta,” one creatively designed coconut and plastic boat made by Vetea, sailed along really well. Watch the video to see the winner, then get off the screen & make your own!
If you do not understand the French language in the video, it is ok because you already have all the information you need to complete this challenge, its simple: gather friends, make your own sailboats and video in any language & email it to contact@explore-jourdain.com (or via WeTransfer) before December 31 with subject ‘Explore Challenge 2016’. In January 2017, vote for your three favorite videos on explore’s website below. We are looking forward to seeing what you create with own local process!
Visit:
http://www.explore-jourdain.com/fr/rejoignez-nous/challenge
for more challenges from other new explorers around the world!

Defi Petites Pirogues a voile recyclees – Projet Vaa Motu Fakarava French Polynesia from Aline Dargie on Vimeo.