Exhibition: “Add to, Take Away: Artistry and Innovation in African Textiles” at Dallas Museum of Art

November 8, 2014 to December 6, 2015

““Add to” and “take away” refer to basic techniques African textile artists use to decorate cloth. “Add to” techniques include embroidery and appliqué. “Take away” refers to the removal of threads from cloth to create intricate patterns. Decorated cloth is often a powerful expressive medium in African life, a kind of visual language that can be read by those familiar with it. This installation of cloths drawn primarily from the DMA’s collection explores these techniques as they have been—and still are—practiced in Mali, Republic of Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ethiopia. “Add to” and “take away” refer to basic techniques African textile artists use to decorate cloth. “Add to” techniques include embroidery and appliqué. “Take away” refers to the removal of threads from cloth to create intricate patterns. Decorated cloth is often a powerful expressive medium in African life, a kind of visual language that can be read by those familiar with it. This installation of cloths, drawn primarily from the DMA’s acclaimed collection of African art, explores these techniques as they have been—and still are—practiced in Mali, Republic of Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ethiopia. “

Captions for the photos are:

Tunic with appliquéd designs, Probably 1920s, Cameroon: Kom people, cotton and wool; commercially woven fabrics, machine and hand stitching, Dallas Museum of Art, Textile Purchase Fund;

Robe for a dignitary (boubou lomasa), Late 19th-early 20th century, Mali: Soninke people, cotton and silk; plain weave and embroidery, Dallas Museum of Art, Textile Purchase Fund;

Woman's embroidered shawl, Probably 1930s, Nigeria or Cameroon, Africa, cotton, Dallas Museum of Art, Textile Purchase Fund;

In my view the shawl is more likely to be from Ivory Coast.