Tapa (Barkcloth)
タパ / prehistory– / Technique / Textile Traditions
The Pacific's beaten barkcloth: geometric patterns stamped, drawn and smoked onto it, serving as communal insignia in ritual and exchange — a Pacific graphic language whose pattern systems differ island by island.
The beaten texture of bark / Repeating geometric pattern / Earth-toned pigments / Great ceremonial sheets
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Dictionary entry
- Best used for
- Comparing primary sources and canonical works · Extracting principles that transfer to other media
- Type
- Observe the letters, signs and scale of reference works
- Composition
- Extract the one structure that governs gaze and information
- Material
- Verify the materials and behaviors specific to era, region and process
- Caution
- Don't reduce it to surface signs. Verify the context of era, region, technology and makers.
- Further study
- Fijian masi / Tongan ngatu / Samoan siapo