Sculpted in high and grasslands on windmill rocks, Moi statues of Rapa Nui – carved their battles against the time before centuries ago to honor the ancestors.
These royal stone guardians are once a proud symbol of polynesian culture and simplicity, now cracking, collapsing, and disappearing under the tireless pressure of nature.
rising seas. Wildfire. Fierce storm.
These modern threats are carving more rapidly than ever in ancient Moi.
Made from soft volcanic tuffs, sculptures especially weak for salt, rain and temperature shifts. Rain water contains oyster. Salt crystals expand. Animals brush against them. Every element leaves a mark.
Some Moi tolerate black spots from the recent wildfires. Others are simply broken and fallen, falling victims of a planet in the flux.
But the people of Rapa Nui are still not standing.
They are using drones for scans and documents.
They are testing protective remedies to preserve.
And they are also arguing on unimaginable – to move some idols to save them from the sea.
Moi is tension between naturally returning to Earth and fighting to preserve them. But one thing is clear:
Losing Moi would mean losing a piece of the island’s soul.
One day his face faces may disappear, but their legacy – stoned and carved in the soul – continue to inspire.