Bo (tapa cloth for dance costume)

This bo (tapa cloth) is part of a collection assembled by Ziska Schwimmer during 1966-67, when she lived with her husband Eric Schimmwer among the Mount Lamington Orokaiva of the Northern District in Papua New Guinea. Ziska spent most of her time in the Sasembata area on the volcano’s densely populated western slopes. This bo is from Togaraya village.

Ziska was employed as a Technical Officer with the Department of Trade and Industry for the period 2lst February to 28th June 1967, and she investigated the production, supply, marketing and organisation of the handicrafts of the Northern district. She published her findings in a government report and in two articles for the Pacific Arts Newsletter (1, 2).

Ziska recorded that the bo (Orokaiva costume) comprises a tapa cloth skirt worn by women and a loin cloth (perineal band) worn by men. In ceremonies and special occasions, these items are accompanied by a headdress and assemblage of adornments, feathers and face paint.

Manufacture

Women made tapa cloth from the bark of several species of trees. Ziska managed to record only the Orokaiva terms for them (2). The makers of tapa prefer to use the Ajimo tree but the bush trees were bambura, okasi, ngata, pusu, junga and oga (breadfruit). The Ajimo tree was cultivated in all tapa producing areas, though fewer were grown where bush species were plentiful.

Tools for making tapa included black palm or metal rod beaters on stones and hardwood blocks. Women from the Sasembata area painted their tapa with a little brush made from the seeded fruit of the pandanus tree. For linework, artists used bamboo sticks or a sliver of betel nut shell. In different areas of the district, women employed a variety of ingredients to make dyes; a black dye was made from burnt bamboo leaves or coconut husk mixed with water; a red dye from boiling kogona leaves with auru bark; blues, greys and greens were made from river clays and fungi.

Clothing

People wore tapa cloth as daily clothing only in the most isolated villages. More often, women made tapa only as it was needed for ceremonial performances and occasions. it was also traded with people from inland villages for items such as pots and feathers. People valued new tapa cloth more highly than old examples. Ziska writes that ‘The best ones generally are intended for special feasts. At one of these I was initiated and took part in a woman's dance: new tapa cloths were made for all forty of the participants.”

References

Schwimmer, Ziska (1985) Pottery making in the northern district of Papua New Guinea, in Pacific Arts Newsletter 21 July pp.6-9.

Schwimmer, Ziska and Blunt, Susan. (1979) "Tapa Cloths of the Northern District, Papua-New Guinea" in Pacific Arts Newsletter. 9 June pp.7-11