Study on the Hawaiian Bark Cloth Kapa

하와이 목질의복(木質衣服)(Bark Cloth) KAPA에 대한 연구(硏究)

The use of bark cloth, made of the inner bark of certain trees, was widespread along tropical zones from the Africa to the Hawaii encompassing the globe. They include Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Polynesian Islands and South America. Among them the Hawaiian bark cloth, named Kapa(pronounced as tapa) was rated as the best quality and most admired. It has variety in designs and colors as well as the most sophistcated production methods. The distinct processes of kapa making are composed of two stages. The first is called first beating and it is a preparatory stage to beat the sea-water soaked bast. It was done with a round beater on a stone anvil. The second beating process was carried out with the squared beater and wooden anvil. The strips from the first beating was soaked again in the water and then beaten lightly to break up fibers. The craftmen laid a bundle of strips over the anvil and beat it into pieces of kapa. The second beater of Hawaii was the most characteristic one among bark cloth producing countries. On their surfaces were the engraved patterns, which were creation of theirs. These distinguished designs enabled them to produce the kapa with the thinner and finer texture and an elaboration of impressed designs known as "watermaks". The Hawaiian culture was self-sufficient one : Everything they used was of their own creation until 19th century. Among their inventions of printing designs on kapa are three most important and distinguished processes. They are the overlaying, the cord snapping and the block printing techniques. Their inventiveness as well as self sufficient environment made it possible to develop their fine art of the kapa making. It is said that the mass producing and cheap western technology of loom forced them to gradually abandon their traditional art and as a result this fine and valuable legacy of Hawaiian traditional kapa making technique is all but disappeared. However it is encouraging and heart warming to find that some of the people as well as specialized researchers pined together to form a group to try to reproduce the old kapa and study the traditional art. They consider the kapa as an expression of the ethnic identity with Hawaii's heritage as well as valuable art of human history.