Pieces of Cloth, Pieces of Culture

Pieces of Cloth, Pieces of Culture: Tapa from Tonga and the Pacific Islands is a catalogue of contemporary and antique tapa (bark cloth), mainly from Tonga, from an exhibit that debuted in Oakland in 2004. The focus of the exhibit was a large (16' x 24') tapa made especially for this exhibit by Tongan women living in the San Francisco Bay Area, shown with tapa cloths from the collection of the Department of Anthropology at the California Academy of Sciences. Text includes essays on the cultural significance and history of tapa cloth, tools and materials used, and the process of making tapa, as well as information on the Bay Area Tongan community and interviews with the artists.

Pieces of Cloth, Pieces of Culture: Tapa from Tonga and the Pacific Islands was published by the California College of the Arts, Oakland, California, in partnership with the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, 2004. 50 pages, 34 color plates, 44 black & white photographs.

The entire collection of tapa, Tongan and Polynesian objects at the California Academy of Sciences is available to view online.

CONTENTS
Foreword
  Sonia BasSheva Mañjon, Ph.D.
Curator's Note
  Ping-Ann Addo, Ph.D.
Message from the Tonga Consul General, San Francisco
  The Honorable Tevita Kolokihakaufisi
Tapa at the California Academy of Sciences
  Russell Hartman
Introduction: Treasured Textiles and Transnational Tongan Communities
1: Ngatu in Oakland: New Cloth, New Song, New Associations
Catalog
2: Tongan Communities, Arts, and Artists in the San Francisco Bay Area
Artists' Statements and Portraits
3: Encountering Tapa in the Pacific Island
4: Tongan Arts as a Transnational Culture System
Notes
Bibliography

ORDERING INFORMATION:

Pieces of Cloth, Pieces of Culture: Tapa from Tonga and the Pacific Islands
$ 10.86 California (with 8.625% California sales tax)
$ 10.00 Domestic (non-California U.S. shipping addresses)
$ 13.00 International (non-U.S. shipping addresses)

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Last updated 07 January 2025