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A 5" x 7" photo graces the front of this splendid tapa photo album, inside contains 50, 8" x 10" magnetic pages. The making of "tapa" is an intricate process, it is made from the inner bark of the paper-mulberry tree. A small incision is made and the bark is peeled off. It is then soaked to soften, a shell is used to strip away the outer bark. The strips of the inner bark are then beaten to expand the material. It takes several layers of this bark to make a piece big enough to cover an album. The painting and dying of the cloth is the most difficult process. Each print is unique to the artist and village so no two are ever exactly the same. Tongan Tapa with shell motif. (#2856) |
