Tapa (non-woven fabric)

"Tapa" is the Polynesian word for natural non-woven fabrics made out of plant bark; use of the term is documented since the early 18th century. While the custom of creating cloths out of tree bark is ancient and wide read across the world, from South America and Africa to South-East Asia, the Philippines, and Indonesia, the Oceanic region has always offered the most diverse and complex production.
The early European voyagers and explorers who reached Polynesia were struck by the refined quality of the raw plant fabrics used to create all sorts of things, from clothes, loincloths, blankets, rugs, curtains, and sails to masks, ritual objects, and items of ceremonial exchange. Not perchance, tapa cloths were among the first Polynesian crafts to be imported to Europe. Over the 1900s, the inversion of the trend, with massive import of European fabrics into the region, caused the decline of the thousand-year-old technique of tapa making. To date, however, tapa cloths continue to play a key role as symbols of ceremonial exchange, with the purpose of strengthening social relations and reinforcing membership and identity.
The production process is the same in all areas of the world associated with tapa making and usually relies on the paper mulberry tree (Broussonetia papyrifera); in some areas, the breadfruit tree (Artocarpus) and certain varieties of Ficus tree are used instead. After chopping down the tree, the bark is scraped away using a shell, a stone, or a knife and the fiber bands thus obtained are first left to soak in water and then beaten with a wooden club. This operation yields thin soft strips that are cut to the desired length and width, as well as the archy glue-like material that is used to piece them together. The composite cloth is then decorated with mineral and plant pigments either by frottage technique, using stamps and molds, or by free hand with paint brushes.