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Overview
This is a fala su‘i (embroidered mat) from Samoa. A weaver has decorated the surface of the hand woven pandanus mat with designs and images stitched in coloured wool.
Manufacture
The fala su‘i is made from the pandanus plant called laufala and the wefts are about 100mm in width. Onto this laufala mat, words, shapes and images such as flowers, fales, birds, and flags are needle stitched.
Usually, the fala su‘i was made to fit the frame of a bed. Two thirds of the mat surface are plain and one third decorated. The plain part of the fala su‘i would sit under the mattress, and the wool decorated portion would hang over the side of the bed frame like a valance.
Fala su‘i can also be decorated across the entire surface of the laufala mat. In this case the mat is used to decorate the top of a bed or the top of a pile of mats.
Significance
In the 1980s, fala su‘i were an “important item among the mats presented at weddings and at the fa‘afailelega-tama ceremony when a new baby is brought home to its fathers village from the village of its mother (1).
This fala su‘i was made as part of a weaving programme run by the Samoan Women in Business Foundation based in Apia. Part of the organisations aim is to empower women in the village context and help bring them into the cash economy where they can make a small income for themselves. Through the weaving programme they hoped to retain the skills of weaving and at the same time promote its cultural value.
In 1999, there were a core group of weavers established in the villages of Manono, Aleipata, Tufitafoe, Lotofaga, Falefa, Tufulele, Satoalepai and Salesatele.
Acquisition history
This fala su‘i was made in 2000 by Lepetia Toa of Moata‘a, Upolu as part of the Women in Business scheme, Samoa.
References
(1) Neich, Roger.(1985). Material Culture of Western Samoa. National Museum of New Zealand Bulletin 23. p.36