So What's the Story on the Much Valued Palau Storyboards?

Storyboards were introduced into Palau by a Japanese artist during the Japanese Occupation of Palau and adapted by the the islanders to record their own traditions.

The stories that are told on Palau storyboards are usually old Palauan legends or alternatively legends from different islands especially Yap, Federated States of Micronesia.

The people of Palau have long been both good story tellers and skillful in woodcarving. As a result, the practice of telling stories stories or legends though wood carvings is a natural extension.

The storyboards themselves can be made from several good hard woods that are grown in Palau. The first of these is ironwood, or dort as it's known in the Palauan language. This is the preferred kind of wood as it is both strong and long lasting. If ironwood cannot be obtained either because it is not available or too expensive, imported woods are occasionally used for story boards.

The construction of the storyboard may take some weeks to complete depending upon its size. In some cases, wood carvers have been known to produce poor quality work in order to meet the increasing demand from tourists, visitors and collectors to Palau.

When the construction of the story board is complete, it will be finished by painting it with different colors or alternatively it will be treated so that the wood retains it's natural colors. Tourists tend to prefer the painted board however the storyboards that retain the natural shades of wood appear most attractive. (This is what I own in my personal collection,) With these the wood is finished using black or brown shoe polish which causes it to shine and retain the true shades and grains of the wood.

Palau Correction and Rehabilitation Division Jail in Koror

Although it is unorthodox, the Palau Jail is considered an attraction that one should not miss. While in jail the inmates are taught the skills of storyboard carving. The Jail has a storyboard shop were the inmates are allowed to carve these works of art and sell them to tourists. This tradition started when the convicted murders and master carver Barris Sylvester was an inmate at the jail. While serving his time he developed what has come to be know as the "jail school" of storyboards. Unlike the painted, two-dimensional carvings, the jail school storyboards were unpainted and three-dimensional, with multiple layers.

On my many visits to Palau, I've seen the jail collection grow from one wall, to three rooms. Prices and quality vary. If price is not an issue, then you seek a Master carver's work . Pieces of lesser quality can range from 60-250 USD. The Master carver's work will sell for above $300 into the thousands of dollar range depending upon three-dimensional quality and size. My personal collection of storyboards are all Master carver's work.

In my experience, the best quality, service and shipping is found at Islander Arts and Crafts.

Tell them Jim sent you! They have a selection of storyboards, and island art that are of the highest quality, storyboards by Master carvers only and very reasonable prices. Return to Home Page