Barkcloth Aspects of Preparation Use, Deterioration, Conservation and Display

The Conservators of Ethnographic Artefacts organised a two-day workshop on barkcloth (tapa) that was tutored by Ruth Norman. The workshop took place on 2nd and 3rd of December 1997 at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. Following this successful workshop, a one-day seminar was held on December 4th 1997 at Torbay Museum, at which these eight papers were presented. Topics covered include: the preparation of tapa from Africa, the Pacific rim and Papua New Guinea; how to survey a collection of tapa and the points to look out for; the deterioration of tapa and the form that this deterioration takes; the effects of iron in the processes of deterioration; the conservation of tapa in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States; the conservation of a Tahitian mourner’s outfit; methods of displaying tapa. CONTENTS: 1. African barkcloth, with particular reference to Ghana Len Pole 2. Condition survey of barkcloth at Exeter City Museums, with particular reference to the African collections Sherry Doyal 3. Research, exhibition and preservation of the barkcloth collections from the Pacific in the Harvard Peabody Museum T. Rose Holdcraft 4. Traditional barkcloth from Papua New Guinea: materials, production and conservation Rowena Hill 5. The research and proposed conservation of the barkcloth elements of a Tahitian chief mourner’s costume Morwena Stephens 6. The conservation and storage of barkcloth and the deacidification of a Samoan tapa at the Manchester Museum: Part 1 Christine Murray and Emily Johnson 7. The conservation and storage of barkcloth and the deacidification of a Samoan tapa at the Manchester Museum: Part 2 Emily Johnson 8. Research into the deterioration of barkcloth V. Daniels Reviewed by RESTAURO, Zeitschrift fur Kunsttechniken, Restaurierung und Museumsfragen, June 2002 edition …conservators doing technical research on barkcloth or working with collections first-hand will benefit from this book. Even those with only a mild interest in barkcloth will find the publication to be approachable and useful. Joel L. Thompson, Journal of the American Institute of Conservation (2002):291-304 pp 295-6.