Notes

Elaborate and beautiful patchwork quilts known as tivaivai have been produced by women in the Cook Islands since the late 19th century. They were a substitute for bark-cloth but were also used to show relationships in the new context of Christian domesticity. In the Cook Islands, quilts are given away at funerals, weddings and other events marking stages of loss and severance in the life of a person and bind islanders together in social and economic relationships. Written from both an anthropological and an artistic perspective, this book examines the visual and cultural characteristics that have made the Polynesian quilt one of the most stunning and captivating art forms to emerge from the Pacific. It also offers a glimpse into the role played by fabric in the history of contact with Europeans.