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17 May 2026 at 3:30 pm New York time (UTC-4)
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Lace-bark is a unique form of bark-cloth, a virtually forgotten textile, obtained from the bark of the fibrous lagetto tree (Lagetta lagetto). The bark of the tree was valued for the properties derived from its bark for use in industry, agriculture and the home. However, its most common use was in the production of lace-bark cloth. The fibers of the lagetto bark were removed by hand and dried, and the result resembled fine lace or linen that was used by enslaved and freed African women to make exquisite clothing, as well as a substitute for manufactured lace. Women’s lives were intertwined with the making of lace-bark and reflected the material environment of colonial Jamaica.
Steeve Buckridge
Steeve Buckridge
Steeve Buckridge was raised in Jamaica and received his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. He is currently a Professor of African and Caribbean History, Material Culture, Dress and Fashion studies at Grand Valley State University in the USA. His research is inspired by his childhood experience and his background in fashion and design. He is a Ford Foundation fellow and was based at the University of the West Indies. His pioneering book, The Language of Dress: Resistance and Accommodation in Jamaican, 1760-1890 was published by the University of the West Indies Press in 2004. In 2014, he was awarded a Visiting Scholar in Residence Fellowship at the Center for British Art at Yale University where he used photography, paintings, and other forms of visual representations to analyze dress in Victorian Jamaica. His book, African Lace-Bark in the Caribbean: The Construction of Race, Class and Gender was released by Bloomsbury Press in 2016. Professor Buckridge is also a US Fulbright Scholar alum and was based at the University of Namibia where he lectured in history.
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