Papua New Guinea · Bark Cloth / Textile
Oro tapa
Tapa (beaten bark cloth) is made throughout the Pacific — but Papua New Guinea's Oro Province (formerly Northern Province) maintains a distinct PNG tapa tradition using the paper mulberry tree (Broussonetia papyrifera) with a specific beating sequence that differs from Polynesian tapa in using a grooved beater rather than a flat one — the grooves producing a characteristic textured surface rather than the smooth Polynesian finish. The defining technical knowledge is the beating direction sequence: PNG tapa is beaten in three directions — first along the fiber, then across, then diagonally — each direction reducing the bark and extending it further than the previous. 'Three directions, three times the size — one direction, one thickness.'
Risk level: Critically Endangered · PNG national ICH list
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