TEXTILES FROM OCEANIA
The traditional Polynesian way of life relied mainly on five substances: wood, stone, vegetable fibre, shell and bone.
Vegetable material was used as the main source of clothing using beaten bark (tapa) of the paper mulberry tree or the banyan. This material was pounded into small sheets that could then be assembled to produce loincloths, capes, skirts and headdresses. Items made from bark cloth (a non-woven fabric) were decorated by painting and watermarking and by attaching feathers, shells, animal teeth, and other ornaments. Finely woven mats were also used as clothing in western Polynesia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders made a variety of objects from animal and plant fibres. Their skills in basket weaving, knotting and using animal skins appear in everyday tools such as baskets for collecting food, nets for fishing and skin cloaks for warmth.
Mythology and culture inspired by the ocean and nature have influenced the decorations created, including depictions of sea life such turtles and sharks as well as seabirds and saltwater crocodiles, which were considered totemic beings.
Not all objects made from fibre were for use in everyday life. Beautifully crafted, ceremonial fibre objects are still made and used in northern Australia. These include sacred strings incorporating colourful parrot feathers; ceremonial twined baskets decorated with feathered string and hung with feathered tassels; and ochred poles, for example Morning Star dancing poles which are decorated with feathered string and bunches of feathers. These tall poles are used in death ceremonies. Other ritual items are shaped from bark bound with string and decorated with ochre to resemble totemic birds and animals. The costumes and head dresses of dancers are also mostly made from fibre.
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| American Samoa barkcloth https://mnch.uoregon.edu/visit |
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| Fijian barkcloth https://mnch.uoregon.edu/visit |
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| Fijian Barkcloth |
Tapa Cloth Decoration
Dyes were stamped, stencilled and painted on freehand. Carved bamboo was used for small repeat designs and woodblocks for larger designs. Detailed tablets were made with pandanus leaves and coconut leaf midribs, placed under the tapa, then rubbed with a dye-saturated cloth.
