Engendering Barkcloth among the Maisin of Papua New Guinea

Description

This presentation explores the interplay between gender and barkcloth, or tapa, among the Maisin people living along the shores of Collingwood Bay in Papua New Guinea (PNG). By focusing on the gendered manufacturing and use of tapa, I show that barkcloth is crucial in experiences, embodiments, and performances of gender. Both making and using tapa transforms the body, mediating relations between divinities and humans, and between social actors and groups. These changes in sight, physiology, and status are activated and expanded by performance, resulting in new or enhanced forms of presence and gendered identity. By unravelling the gendered cosmology of cloth in daily and ritual performances, this presentation shows how barkcloth is not just representing, but constituting gendered identities.

Period	14 Sept 2022
Event title	Gendered Objects in Oceania
Event type	Conference
Location	Paris, FranceShow on map