Since World War II, Marshallese women, once known for their fine weaving skills, have gradually lost knowledge of the traditional art, using beautiful symmetrical designs that characterized Marshallese clothing.

Traditional leader and activist Maria Kabua Fowler and Dr. Irene Taafaki, a professor at the University of the South Pacific, felt it critical to revive and share traditional mat designs.

Fowler visited Bishop Museum's Cultural Resources collections to see Marshallese mats. Fowler knew immediately that the mats she saw would inspire and instruct contemporary weavers and spur the re-creation of traditional designs and weaving styles that had been long lost.

With the support of Bishop Museum, photos of 19th- and early-20th-century Marshallese mats in their collection were shared with Marshallese weavers.

In November 2006 a competition was launched to encourage weavers to recreate the designs and fine weaves of the past. Working closely with local partners — the Marshall Islands Visitors Authority, Marshall Islands Resort and the non-governmental organization Women United Together in the Marshall Islands' — the competition offered a first prize of $1,000.

More than 20 mats from Arno, Ailinglaplap, Ujae, Mejit, Kwajalein and Majuro atolls were on exhibit featuring patterns borrowed from Bishop Museum mat collections that have not been seen in contemporary times. Also on view were Iroij (high Chief) Michael Kabua's family heirloom mats, Bishop Museum photos. The new mats by 19 master weavers incorporated old and new designs in varying shades of white, tan and black, with some embellished with hibiscus fiber embroidery and the use of beach burr (ata ata).