20 November 2006
Cloth That Grows On Trees
Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto, Ontario
December 6, 2006 - April 2007
Guest Curator: Max Allen, Toronto
A new exhibition opening in December at the Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto, Ontario, will show historic examples of bark-cloth from the Museum's collection, originating from the Pacific Islands, Africa and Indonesia.
"cloth that grows on trees" is made in places (mostly tropical) where the climate is not suitable for raising sheep or growing cotton. Tapa bark-cloth is not woven, it's not paper and it definitely is not flimsy. It is usually made and decorated collectively, by groups of women who know its production secrets and paint it with stories told in striking narrative symbols.
Image: Tapa cloth (detail), Fiji, early 20th century. From the Textile Museum of Canada’s permanent collection. Image credit: Textile Museum of Canada. Used by permission.