Samoan, Samoa

Siapo tasina is the Samoan term for the fine line patterning produced when barkcloth is rubbed on a upeti, or design board. Early, delicately constructed design boards were made from the ribs of leaves, sewn into geometric patterns and mounted on wood. Leaf upeti were used until the 1930s, when wooden boards carved by men became predominant. This shift in technique also meant that men became involved in the design phase for the first time. The upeti technique is combined here with overpainting of the borders and the scattered circles and bars.