Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the processes of making a new suit of Kiribati armour, exploring how the materials used can reveal social practices and structures, and how direct engagement with the materials and the process of making in all its stages can inform museological knowledge and practice.

Paper long abstract:

Coconut fibre armour from Kiribati is a distinctive composite object found in many museums across the world. Historically the armour and the weaponry used with it would have taken several months to make. Groups of many people would have been needed to make the twisted, plaited and knotted coconut fibre string used for the armour, and to prepare the human hair string that decorated it. The large scale production of armour ended in the early 1900s due to the arrival of missionaries and British colonial government. In 2016 the Pacific Presences project collaborated with Kiribati and New Zealand artists to produce a new suit of armour for exhibition in the UK. This paper explores that collaborative project which involved not just the project and the artists, but communities both in Kiribati and the New Zealand diaspora, as well as museum conservators and collections managers. This paper discusses the processes of making this new suit of armour, exploring how the materials used can reveal social practices and structures. It also considers how direct engagement with the materials and the process of making in all its stages can inform museological knowledge and practice.