New Caledonia (France) · Fibre Arts
Xûû
The production of bark cloth among Kanak communities of New Caledonia through the harvesting beating and sometimes painting of the inner bark (bast) of the breadfruit tree (Artocarpus altilis) or fig species. Though less extensively documented than Polynesian tapa Kanak bark cloth (locally known as xûû in some Kanak languages) was used for ceremonial wrapping body adornment and as a ritual material in customary exchange. The beating technique — in which soaked inner bark is worked with a grooved wooden mallet on a flat stone or log anvil — is shared with other Pacific bark cloth traditions but Kanak practice has regional material and motif specificities that distinguish it from Tongan or Samoan tapa production.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not inscribed; partially addressed within broader Kanak customary practices recognition
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