Material Approaches to Polynesian Barkcloth

Barkcloth or tapa, a cloth made from the inner bark of trees, was widely used in place of woven cloth in the Pacific islands until the 19th century. A ubiquitous material, it was integral to the lives of islanders and used for clothing, furnishings and ritual artefacts. Material Approaches to Polynesian Barkcloth takes a new approach to the study of the history of this region through its barkcloth heritage, focusing on the plants themselves and surviving objects in historic collections. This object-focused approach has filled gaps in our understanding of the production and use of this material through an investigation of this unique fabric’s physical properties, transformation during manufacture and the regional history of its development in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The book is the outcome of a research project which focused on three important collections of barkcloth at The Hunterian, University of Glasgow; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. It also looks more widely at the value of barkcloth artefacts in museum collections for enhancing both contemporary practice and a wider appreciation of this remarkable fabric. The contributors include academics, curators, conservators and makers of barkcloth from Oceania and beyond, in an interdisciplinary study which draws together insights from object-based and textual reseach, fieldwork and tapa making, and information on the plants used to make fibres and colourants.

This book will be of interest to tapa makers, museum professionals including curators and conservators; academics and students in the fields of anthropology, museum studies and conservation; museum visitors and anyone interested in finding out more about barkcloth.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

Image credits

Biographies

Introduction

Frances Lennard

Part I: Tapa as Fabric: Bast and Colourants

The procurement, cultural value and fabric characteristics of Polynesian tapa species

Andy Mills

Plant profile 1. Paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera

Plant profile 2. Breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis

Mark Nesbitt

Technical variation in historical Polynesian tapa manufacture

Andy Mills

Breadfruit tapa: not always second best

Michele Austin Dennehy, Jean Chapman Mason, Adrienne L. Kaeppler

Plant profile 3. Pacific banyan, Ficus prolixa

Plant profile 4. Māmaki, Pipturus albidus

Mark Nesbitt

A new perspective on understanding Hawaiian kapa-making

Lisa Schattenburg-Raymond

Polynesian tapa colourants

Andy Mills, Taoi Nooroa, Allan Tuara

Plant profile 5. Beach hibiscus, Sea hibiscus, Hibiscus tiliaceus

Plant profile 6. ‘Ākia, Wikstroemia uva-ursi

Mark Nesbitt

Hawaiian dyes and kapa pigments: a modern perspective and brief analysis of the historic record

Lisa Schattenburg-Raymond

Part II: Understanding Tapa in Time and Place

Towards a regional chronology of Polynesian barkcloth manufacture

Andy Mills

Living with tapa and the social life of ritual objects

Adrienne L. Kaeppler

Plant profile 7. ‘Oloa, Neraudia melastomifolia

Plant profile 8. Polynesian arrowroot, Tacca leontopetaloides

Mark Nesbitt

West Polynesian dyes and decorations as cultural signatures

Adrienne L. Kaeppler

‘A classification of Tongan ngatu’: change and stability in Tongan barkcloth forms since 1963

Billie Lythberg

White for purity, brown for beautiful like us and black because it is awesome

Fanny Wonu Veys

Plant profile 9. Koka, Bischofia javanica

Plant profile 10. Candlenut, Aleurites moluccana

Mark Nesbitt

Barkcloth from the islands of Wallis (‘Uvea) and Futuna

Hélène Guiot

Barkcloth in the Māori world

Patricia Te Arapo Wallace

‘Ahu Sistas: reclaiming history, telling our stories

Pauline Reynolds, Jean Clarkson

Plant profile 11. Turmeric, Curcuma longa

Plant profile 12. Noni, Morinda citrifolia

Mark Nesbitt

‘Tataki ʻe he Leá: Guided Language’

Tui Emma Gillies, Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows

Part III: Tapa in Collections and the Community

The Hunterian’s Polynesian barkcloth collection

Andy Mills

From maker to museum: Polynesian barkcloth at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Mark Nesbitt, Brittany Curtis, Andy Mills

Plant profile 13. Mati, Ficus tinctoria

Plant profile 14. Tou, Cordia subcordata

Plant profile 15. Ironwood, Casuarina equisetifolia

Mark Nesbitt

Smithsonian Institution barkcloth collections

Adrienne L. Kaeppler

‘Holomua ka hana kapa’: a symposium on caring for kapa and kapa makers at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, December 2017

Alice Christophe

Fiji masi and the Auckland Museum Pacific Collection Access Project

Fuli Pereira, Leone Samu-Tui

Plant profile 16. Malay apple, Syzygium malaccense

Plant profile 17. Red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle

Mark Nesbitt

Shown to full advantage: conservation and mounting of barkcloth for display in the ‘Shifting Patterns: Pacific Barkcloth Clothing’ exhibition at the British Museum

Monique Pullan

Conservation as part of ‘Situating Pacific Barkcloth in Time and Place’: improving preservation, enhancing access and sharing knowledge

Frances Lennard, Reggie Meredith Fitiao, Su’a Tupuola Uilisone Fitiao, Ruby Antonowicz-Behnan, Beth Knight

Afterword: Polynesian barkcloth past, present, future

Mark Nesbitt, Frances Lennard and Andy Mills

Bibliography