Fiji and Tonga Tapa Paper
Tapa Paper
Tapa Paper, or tapa, has been produced throughout the islands of the South Pacific--in both Polynesia and Melanesia. The people of Tonga, Fiji, and other islands have made Tapa Paper in distinctive styles for both functional and ceremonial purposes. The paper has played important roles in weddings, funerals, and events associated with royalty. Various collections of Tapa paper and Tapa painting and designs collected by missionaries and navigators such as Capt. J. Cook during the 1700s hundred, that are exhibited in museums worldwide today.
Most commonly the bark of the paper mulberry or breadfruit tree is used. The bark is stripped from a 3 to 4-year old saplings, and the white inner layers are peeled off for the tapa. These narrow strips are soaked in water until softened; then they are pounded with grooved mallets, which spreads the bark into increasingly wider strips until they are about ten inches wide. The edges are then overlapped and glued with manioc root juice, breadfruit, or arrowroot starch to make wide sheets.
Here are just some of our available naturally dyed colors in 24x18 or 24x36 Golden Yellow, Scarlet, Navy Blue, Black.
Also available for the first time ever, available in naturally dyed colors – tan, taupe, beige, banana, cream, eggshell, ivory, bone, camel, champagne, yellow, gold, mustard, ecru, old ecru, tangerine, sunshine orange, tiger lily, burnt orange, peach, sea coral orange, coral, paprika, dark brown, cocoa brown, bittersweet, caramel, chestnut brown, spice brown, rust, apricot, kelly green, dark green, mint green, avocado, celery, chartreuse, forest green, hunter green, jade green, khaki green, khaki tan, light green, lime green, moss green, olive drab, sage green, teal green, cherry red, cardinal red, scarlet, fuchsia, cranberry red, wine, burgundy, maroon, raspberry sorbet, pink, rose pink, sea coral pink, neon pink, mauve, flesh, shrimp pink, shocking pink, purple, violet, aubergine, amethyst, grape, lilac, dusty rose, magenta, plum, navy blue, denim blue, dark denim, royal blue, country blue, evening blue, teal, aqua, aquamarine, bright navy, blue turquoise, blue spruce, marine blue, light blue, light turquoise, misty lavender, peacock blue, teal blue, charcoal grey, pearl grey, white and Tapa by the roll.