We had Aaron from the museum visit us today. He brought in a beautiful Tapa cloth to show us. We learnt that they are made from the bark of the Mulberry Bush. In Tonga they are a traditional part of their culture. They are also known as Ngatu in Tonga. Tapa cloth is used for many different things. We learnt that they are used for decoration, artwork, mats, curtains, clothes, to give as gifts, to wrap bodies in for a funeral, wedding dresses, wall coverings.
They use an eke to bash the bark to make it bigger & bigger. Then they layer it together. They make glue out of potatoes to stick all the pieces together to make one huge piece.
Then it is ready to be decorated. They make special patterns using a Kupesi. It is a board made out of a coconut.
 |
Aaron shows us how they use the eke to pound the Mulberry bark to flatten it out
and make the tapa cloth. |
 |
| He shows us the board that they rub the paint over to make the tapa patterns. |
 |
| Can you see the pattern on the finished cloth? |
We had a go at making our own tapa cloth patterns by rubbing crayons over a patterned board.
Here are our creations.
 |
| Holly and Juni |
 |
| Oska |
 |
| Rori |
 |
| Amber |
 |
| Momo |
 |
| Nathan |
 |
| Brooklyn |
 |
| Te Atawhai |
 |
| Alice, Cash and Cornelia |
 |
| Bramm |
 |
| Oska with his finished piece. |
 |
| Rori shows us his colourful work. |
 |
| Mrs Arthur |
 |
| Mrs Broad |
