Tapa Cloth

Item number C1280 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

The cloth is natural in colour with designs in dark and light brown. In the centre of the cloth there is a thick brown caterpillar-like figure with many rounded sections, increasing in size across the width of the cloth. There are many lines extending from the sections, much like legs. To one side of the figure, the designs are linear. Thick parallel brown lines have various 'v' patterns attached, some coloured in and some outlined. On the other side of the central figure, the designs are more circular. The parallel brown lines are fewer and have leaf-like patterns attached. In one area there are no lines, but many circles with leaves extending in all directions. The cloth is painted on one side but some paint has bled through to the backside.

History Of Use

Barkcloth, commonly known as tapa, is one of the most distinctive products of the diverse cultures of the Pacific Islands. The name is derived from the Samoan word tapa, which means the undecorated edge of a piece of barkcloth, and the Hawaiian word kapa, a variety of barkcloth. Tapa was probably brought to the Pacific Islands thousands of years ago by the ancestors. No important occasion is complete without the presence of tapa, and those who make it continue to generate techniques and designs that serve both utilitarian and ceremonial purposes.