Siapo (Samoan)
Maker Once Known, Samoan People (Samoa)
Siapo (n.d.)
mulberry bark cloth, vegetable dye, paint
167.0 x 160.0 cm
Gift of Patsy Sanford
2014-36-1
This is a geometric siapo (tapa cloth) from Samoa. Rather than woven, this type of cloth produced from the beaten bark of u'a or paper mulberry tree and commonly called tapa, is made throughout the Pacific Islands. As discussed in RISD's 1992 exhibition Pacific Islands Tapa Cloth,
Following the creation of the cloth, the tapa is decorated using vegetable or earthen-based pigments and in techniques and styles that vary widely, including stenciling, free-painting, stamping, and rubbing."the production of bark cloth was a lengthy process involving the entire community. Men harvested the paper mulberry trees, stripping the bark from trees and soaking it in water. With grooved wooden beaters, the women would pound the pulp which would soften and expand it several inches, knitting the fibers together resulting in a thready woven appearance. Several strips of bark cloth were pasted together with arrowroot to make a stronger tapa or beaten, slightly overlapped, to make wider pieces."
This siapo is divided into 48 squares, 6 rows by 8 rows, using dark brown paint or vegetable dye. Inside the squares, there are diamonds and "flower" shapes outlined in dark brown. There are also 6 dark brown circles throughout the siapo. The border is also outlined in dark brown. The light brown areas depict a series of small geometric shapes, mostly triangles. In their online catalogue of siapo, the Museum of New Zealand says "siapo are decorated in two ways: either freehand or by taking rubbings off a relief pattern carved into a plank or board" and this piece shows evidence of both decorative techniques. Described as siapo tasina (rubbed cloth), the design is made by "laying the cloth over an 'upeti (rubbing board) and rubbing it with dye. The raised pattern on the 'upeti is transferred onto the cloth, which is then painted."The back of the bark cloth, which you can see here, shows the intricate details of the 'upeti used to make the geometric patterns, whereas the front (top) is less crisp, showing the hand painted technique in the dark brown pigment.
Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology has a digital exhibition up on their website Embedded Nature: Tapa Cloths from the Pacific Islands in which they describe the uses of bark cloth thusly:
While we don't know what purpose this siapo may have been intended for, its size suggests it could have been used as a wall divider or bedcover if not made for trade."In the eighteenth century and before, tapa served as both daily and ceremonial clothing. It was made into headdresses, turbans, loincloths, sashes, girdles, skirts, and ponchos. The cloth was used for bedcovers, wall dividers, or mosquito curtains as well as for special wrappings of staff gods, for the outer layer of sculptures, for wrapping skulls, and for masks. Individuals were surrounded by tapa at birth, weddings, and death. Special cloths were made for dowries, diplomatic gifts, and treaty agreements. Large-scale accumulation of tapa signified wealth and aided in achieving status. It was also used to pay tribute. Barkcloth material, partially processed or as undecorated sheets, was an important trade item and was exchanged for plaited mats, adzes, whaleteeth, and sandalwood."
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- Decorative Techniques from Around the World Jessica Nelson