Barkcloth

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Culture Samoan

Title Barkcloth (Siapo, Tapa)

Date 1930–1950

Medium Barkcloth and pigment

Dimensions Object: 63 1/2 × 49 1/2 in. (161.3 × 125.7 cm)
Overall: 63 1/2 x 49 1/2 in. (161.3 x 125.7 cm)

Credit Line Gift of Mrs. Edward J. Kempf, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 73.83.6

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About this Work

Samoans, in a technique utilized throughout West Polynesia, make siapo by pasting multiple layers of barkcloth with arrowroot starch. This cloth was cut from a larger piece; we know this because a white border of undecorated tapa generally frames a complete piece of siapo.

Samoan women decorate siapo in two ways: siapo tasina is made by stretching white cloth over a carved ‘upeti board and rubbing with pigment to create the design, later going over the design again with different pigments. Siapo mamanu is made by painting freehand designs on white siapo.

Provenance
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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Barkcloth | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=73.83.6