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Western Polynesia

About 1000 BC, experienced and intrepid mariners travelled 700 marine miles from the main Melanesian islands to colonise Western Polynesia, a cultural area made up of several archipelagos: Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, American Samoa, Niue, Wallis and Futuna. Intense cultural exchange followed, particularly between Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, which led to certain cultural similarities.

Tapa: the cosmic cloth of Oceania

The word "tapa" refers to a malleable nonwoven cloth once used in Oceania to make clothing, sails or masks, and for trade. Imported fabrics have now supplanted tapa which nonetheless continues to play an important role in establishing kinship bonds, in rituals and in ceremonial exchanges.

Making tapa cloth is women's work. They begin by stripping the bark from the paper mulberry tree (Broussonetia papyrifera) then they remove the outer bark. The strips are macerated, beaten flat and assembled with vegetable glue. The tapa cloth is decorated with stencils or stamps, or painted freehand with a brush.

Bibliograpy

• Necker, Louis. 1986. Etoffes cosmiques. Les anciens tapas d'Océanie du Musée d'ethnographie de Genève. Genève: Société des amis du Musée, 101
• Anati, Emmanuel. 2005. L'art du tapa. Étoffe pour les Dieux, étoffe pour les hommes. Paris: l'insolite
• Guillaut Laurent et al. 2009. Tapa, étoffes cosmiques de l’Océanie. Cahors: Musée de Cahors Henri-Martin