Siapo

Siapo is a traditional form of Samoan artwork;.where the bark of a mulberry tree is turned into a cloth and then painted with beautiful designs. People use it to hang on the walls as decoration and can also be made into clothes for special occasions including bridal gowns. I (Ruth) was really keen to see this being made. Whilst we were in Satuiatua I found out that there was a lady in the village that makes them and for a small fee you can go around to her house and you can watch as she talks you through the making of it. On our final morning in Salai'i I went to Makalata's house, the lady who makes the Siapo. She was a lovely lady with 5 children ranging from 0-19. Her husband had a stroke in December at the age of 41 and although his condition has started to improve since then he can no longer work so the whole family works very hard making Siapo which they sell at the market. The skill has been passed down through her family, her mother, grad mother and great grand mother all made Siapo. Although it only used to be the women who did this, today for financial reasons boys have started to learn the skill as well, including her 2 boys of 5 and 6 years old.
The demonstration started with the trunk of a Mulberry tree and 4 hours later, after she removed the bark and then soaked, scraped, flattened and stretched it, it became a beautiful cloth which she then used natural dyes to stamp and then hand paint it. She also makes to order, I limited myself to 3, which was really difficult as I wanted them all. The prosses making the cloth is strenuous work and only Makalata and her oldest daughter, Fili, are strong enough for that so far. But the boys and the 15 year old girl do a lot of the painting.