preview

Women in Oceanic Art and Culture

Best Essays
Open Document

Unit Four Assignment One
Women in Oceanic Art and Culture

“I certify that I have read A Student 's Guide to Academic Integrity at the University of Oklahoma, and this paper is an original paper composed by me for this course. Except where properly cited and attributed, it has not been copied or closely reworded from any other source and has not been submitted as a whole, or in part, for credit in any other course at OU or any other educational institution. It has not been created or submitted for any other purpose such as a job assignment at my workplace or any other agency.”

LSTD 3193-Art of the Nonwestern World
Professor St. Clare
December 14, 2012
Women’s roles in Oceanic cultures were very important yet less public …show more content…

The Dilukai sculptures are depicted in this way in order to praise the creation powers that women possess.
The ranking women in the Tonga society would make something called barkcloth. Barkcloth is a soft, thick and textured fabric that is made by the bark of a Mulberry tree.

Today women with noble birth in the Kautaha tribe produce the barkcloth. The men plant the Mulberry tree and it takes 2-3 years for the tree to be ready to be cut down and used to make barkcloth. After the tree has been cut, the women then strip off the outer bark and soak the inner bark in water in order to prepare the bark for further processing. The women then place the soaked inner bark strops over a wooden anvil and repeatedly strike the bark with a wooden beater. They continue to do this until the bark is flat. Folding and layering the bark strips while beating them, results in a wider piece of bark than that of the original strips. After all of the bark has been beaten, the bark is set outside to be bleached by the sun. Next, the strips are placed over semicircular boards. Once they have been fastened to the boards, the women attach an embroidery design to the tablet. They transfer the design from the tablet to the piece of bark by rubbing. After this, the women then fill in the lines and patterns with pigments such as brown, red and black. These pigments that are used are derived from things such as clay, soot and fruits. These barkcloths play a very

Get Access