Description - A piece of bark cloth, with varying pigmented, geometric patterns and curved motifs across the front surface. The back surface is 'undecorated', however pigment bleed is visible throughout.

Condition - The surface undulates, changeably throughout, with more notable deformations occurring though the centre. Signs of physical damage, predominantly tears, holes and localised loss are most prominent along all edges of the cloth. Small holes are a feature throughout the cloth, consistent with the natural occurrence of where small branches existed in the pre-harvested trees. Larger holes are identified in the upper proper left (PL) quadrant. Areas of weakened cloth are also noticeable through the centre, likely attributed to creasing and fold lines identified in close proximity. Minor creases and folds are identified around the edges of the cloth.

What we did – The surface was cleaned with a dirt eraser to remove dry dirt and dust. Minor creasing was flattened with the application of local humidification. We repaired small tears with toned Japanese paper and created small “butterfly bandages”, adhered to the reverse with a 50/50 blend of wheat starch paste and methylcellulose, diluted in distilled water. A backing board was constructed using double-wall archival blue/grey corrugated board. Eight, rare earth neodymium magnets were embedded around the inside border, then covered with small pieces of Mylar (stretched polyester film). A piece if neutral calico was used to line the board. We laid the Siapo over the front surface, to allow the tooth of the fabric to grip to the reverse of the cloth. Small interleaving pieces of Mylar were placed between the object and colour-matched paired magnets. We used spun-bound polyester to cover the top magnets, which we coloured with matching acrylic tones, to replicate the patterns of the Siapo. Finally, a wide profile frame with UV filtering acrylic was added to allow the piece to be displayed and handled safely.