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BISHOP MUSEUM-How to care for and display tapa cloth

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How to care for and display tapa cloth. This is a very long, but good, article so I'm only going to copy and paste the introduction.

http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research/pdf/cnsv-tapa.pdf

Introduction
This handout is a summary of steps which can be taken at home to insure a longer
life for your tapa. By knowing what can harm your tapa, it is possible to take steps to avoid damage before it occurs. Combined with an understanding of how tapa is
constructed, we have a better sense of how it can be preserved. The emphasis of the
handout is towards problems which we face most often here in Hawai'i: insects, excessive light, high humidity, dust, and acidic storage and mounting materials.
Tapa, also known as barkcloth, can be loosely defined as a material made from
the inner bark of shrubs or trees that has been softened and expanded into thin sheets by a process of soaking and beating. Surface decoration can be beaten into the cloth during manufacture or can be painted onto the finished cloth. Although tapa has been made in many parts of the world, the emphasis of this handout will be on tapa made in Polynesia. Within Polynesia, the art of tapa making was most refined in Hawai'i. Although this art was almost lost in the early 20th century, Hawaiian tapa making is presently undergoing a revival as contemporary artists' recreate tissue-thin sheets with a rich variety of colors and textures.
The popular tapa of Samoa, Tonga and Fiji continues to be made today and can
still be found commercially. Although smaller pieces are made, tapa from these areas is often constructed of individual pieces of processed bark pasted together to form large sheets with bold application of earth colors onto the finished cloth.

In my research, historically, tapa cloth has been used basically as wallpaper in tiki bars. When I asked Oceanic Arts how they mount it on the wall they said to use contact cement. Obviously this is the thinking that tapa has a one time use. I have found that nice looking pieces of tapa are not easy to find at moderate prices. I have pondered what is the right thing to do with tapa. If you want to decorate with it you pretty much have to damage it in some way unless you treat it like a piece of art. I have treated it both ways to meet my needs. What do others think about about tapa. Should it be preserved as something that is historical/art or is it just wallpaper?

I have preserved most of mine. One piece that I have memorializes the birthday of Queen Salote of Tonga and has the Tongan royal crest on it. She lived from 1918 to 1965.
I don't have a problem with people using their tapa cloth to decorate their businesses and homes. I like the look of it.
I live in an apartment so cementing tapa cloth to my walls is pretty much a no-go. Where it is displayed I use magnetic stick pins to hang it.

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