Post #767267 by MaukaHale on Tue, Aug 9, 2016 10:09 PM

I struggled in the beginning with that same question about preservation of Tapa cloth. The people at Oceanic Arts told me they use contact cement to attach it to the wall. This definitely destroys the tapa since it doesn't come off the wall. I soon found out that there are deferent qualities of tapa. There are lot of pieces that are what I would call tourist tapa. These are mostly Fijian Masi and Tonga pieces. The small pieces at Oceanic Arts that are under $100 are in this category. These pieces are great for cutting up and making lamp shades. I also have used spray glue to attach pieces to foam core board to mount on the ceiling. I bought a 12 foot section from Oceanic Arts that came off of a 120 foot role. I had no guilt cutting this piece to fit the entire wall. These long rolls where made to be cut into sections to be given as gifts. I did preserve the piece on the wall by attaching it with steel harden picture hanger nails. i have also preserved other pieces of tapa by pressing them between a frame and foam core board. If you are not paying hundreds of dollars for the tapa its probably not a vintage or museum quality piece of tapa.

If you want to see what I did with tapa you can go to:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=42941&forum=20&start=30