Vibrant bark cloth textiles known as tapa are produced by collectives of women in Polynesia. Developed from a tradition spanning over 3,500 years, these hand-painted textiles are central to the ceremonial exchanges and gift-giving that have long been at the heart of political and cultural diplomacy among Pacific Islanders. Wrapping the body in tapa enhances an individual’s spiritual status and prestige (mana). Produced from the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree, the cloths possess a unique materiality and dynamic geometric designs that have contributed to their longevity, with the practice of tapa-making continuing to flourish in many of the islands today. Makers select intricate designs from a complex visual vocabulary that is passed between generations of women and reinterpreted for their own times.
This exhibition brings together exceptional 19th-century examples from the islands of Fiji, Samoa, and Futuna selected from The Met collection, and a remarkable hiapo from Niue on loan from Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Museum of New Zealand. It offers a unique opportunity to understand the strong design principles that give these artworks their singular dynamism. One spectacular pair of large-scale Fijian panels (masi kesa) have never been exhibited together. Also among the works on view is a selection of boldly designed tapa cloths that were diplomatic gifts presented by high-ranking Samoan chiefs to the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (author of Treasure Island, who they named “Tusitala,” Teller of Tales) and his wife Fanny, who advocated strongly for Samoan chiefs during their residence in Samoa, in 1890–94. The presentation also includes an important contemporary monochrome painting by renowned Niuean poet and painter John Puhiatau Pule (born 1962), whose early paintings drew inspiration from the dynamic grid-like hiapo designs for which the island of Niue is renowned, highlighting the central role that tapa continues to play across Polynesia today.