Medium Pukoa Pendant Necklace – Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
£37.50
Product description from their website:
Expertly crafted in Hawaii by Puko'a Studios, the Pukoa necklace showcases traditional Kapa materials and locally-sourced Wauke. Each piece is individually hand-cut and assembled, creating a unique work of art that pays homage to both cultural heritage and natural beauty.
Kapa is a sustainable textile made from Native Hawaiian and other natural materials. Taking care of it will ensure longevity, but with substantial wear these pieces will begin to fade, degrade and can eventually be composted.
Kapa, or Tapa, is the traditional textile of Hawaiʻi.
The first Hawaiians carried wauke here, to the most isolated island group on the planet. They developed a kapa industry full of farmers, kapa tool makers, kapa pounders, dyers, and designers.
How It's Made:
Kapa is made by stripping, pounding, and fermenting the mo‘omo‘o-inner bark, or bast fibre, of the Wauke tree. The practice begins with planting and tending Wauke and many other plants used for colour, waiho‘olu‘u. It begins with mālama ‘āina and working in the māla. After harvesting the Mo‘omo‘o, it is pounded, then fermented. Once fermented and soft and squooshie, it is pounded into sheets of Kapa.