Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Don't look for human figures on a traditional quilt, though; they might come alive
at night. Each original design is thought to contain the very spirit of the crafter. To
prevent their souls from wandering, early Hawaiian quilts were buried with their
makers.
Theʻohanaof one of the most highly regarded traditional Hawaiian quilters, the
late Althea Poakalani Serrao, runs an encyclopedic website (
www.poakalani.net
)
about Hawaiian quilting, including classes, shops, patterns, history and more.
Lisa Dunford
Kapa Hawaii (
www.kapahawaii.net
)
celebrates the art of
kapa
with photo essays, news
about workshops and events, and how-to tips for making, displaying and caring for this
handmade fabric.
Fabric Arts
The making of
kapa
(pounded-bark cloth) for clothing and artworks, and
lauhala
weav-
ing are two other ancient Hawaiian crafts.
Traditionally
lauhala
served as floor mats, canoe sails, protective capes and more.
Weaving the
lau
(leaves) of the
hala
(pandanus) tree is the easier part, while preparing
the leaves, which have razor-sharp spines, is messy work. Today the most common
lauhala
items are hats, placemats and baskets. Most are mass-produced, however. You
can find handmade beauties at specialty stores like the Big Island's Kimura Lauhala
Shop (
Click here
)
near Kailua-Kona.
Making
kapa
(called
tapa
elsewhere in Polynesia) is no less laborious. First, seashells
are used to scrape away the rough outer bark of the
wauke
(paper mulberry) tree. Strips
of softer inner bark are cut (traditionally with shark's teeth) and pounded with mallets
until thin and pliable, further softened by soaking them in water to let them ferment
between beatings. Softened bark strips are then layered atop one another and pounded to-
gether in a process called felting. Large sheets of finished
kapa
are colorfully dyed with
plant materials and stamped or painted by hand with geometric patterns before being
scented with flowers or oils.
In ancient times,
kapa
was worn as everyday clothing by both sexes, and used as
blankets for everything from swaddling newborns to burying the dead. Today authentic
handmade Hawaiian
kapa
cloth is rarely seen outside of museums, fine-art galleries and
private collections.
