Fiber and Textile Arts

Masi is the Fijian word for the paper mulberry tree (Broussonetia papyrifera) as well as for the cloth made from its inner bark. To produce masi, the bark is stripped from saplings and then the white inner bark is separated and soaked in water. Next, the inner bark is beaten into thin sheets with wooden beaters called ike ni masi. Sheets are progressively layered and folded to make the cloth strong, and then left to dry. Individual lengths can then be felted together or gummed, using a natural paste, to form cloths of any size and length.

Sometimes masi is decorated with local vegetable and mineral dyes, applied by stenciling, rubbing on a pattern board, or freehand painting. Stenciling is the most frequent form of decoration and, in the Pacific, is unique to Fiji, where masi is made almost exclusively by women (although men help harvest the bark). Fine white masi without decoration, thin as muslin, is the most highly valued. The quality of Fijian barkcloth is well-recognized across the Pacific and, unlike in many other places, barkcloth-making has continued to the present. Enormous presentation cloths have been made for investitures, weddings, or as state gifts; one measured in 1845 was 540 feet long. A widespread tradition, exhibited nearby, is the three-piece barkcloth attire worn by both men and women on important ceremonial occasions. The wearing of masi, including wrapping the body with substantial amounts of the material, remains significant in Fijian culture; the absorptive and protective qualities of the cloth are linked to the containment of a person’s power (mana).