Khoikhoi woman, circa 1900

Vintage postcard, circa 1900. Angola, Khoikhoi or Khoisan woman.

Asante Kente Cloths in the Ethnological Museum, Berlin

A small selection from the large number of Asante kente cloths collected by the late Dr Brigitte Menzel are now online on the website of the Ethnological Museum, Berlin. Menzel’s field research on Asante weaving in the 1960s, sadly largely unpublished, remains the only in depth investigation of the tradition, and she was able to collect a group of cloths of unrivalled quality. Most of these are in the Berlin Museum where she worked for many years (others are in the Textilmuseum, Krefeld, and the Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde, Leiden.) Small black and white images of these cloths and many others are published in Menzel’s three volume catalogue Textilien aus WestAfrika (Berlin 1972).

Click on the images to enlarge. You can see these together with other early and important Asante kente on our Pinterest page here, and view the Asante kente we have for sale here.

Exploring Ewe “kente” design online.

One of the issues with African textiles that interests me is developing an understanding of the range of design possibilities within each tradition and promoting an appreciation of the way in which weavers have explored and expanded those possibilities and parameters. Increased aesthetic appreciation can then be combined where possible with information about dates and places of origin. Looking at cloths is one of the most important ways of appreciating these issues and the increasing accessibility of museum collections online has opened up new horizons, even if the issues raised can pose as many questions as they offer answers. This month I have begun a project using my Pinterest page to bring together images of cloths that I consider to be early, exceptional, important, distinctive or in other ways of interest. Cloths are drawn from museum collections, images published or online, our own archive etcetera. I will be adding others to this group, expanding the Asante kente group, and starting new collections over the coming months.

Click here to visit the page. Visit our online gallery here for Ewe kente cloths in our current stock.

New Article: “The Shape of Fashion–the Historic Silk Brocades (akotifahana) of Highland Madagascar” by Sarah Fee

The latest issue of African Arts magazine (Volume 46 Number 3 Autumn 2013) has an important article by Sarah Fee of the Royal Ontario Museum that explores in considerable detail the splendid brocaded silk cloths of the Merina in nineteenth century Madagascar that inspired the 1990s revival and the recent well publicised spider silk cloth travelling exhibit.

(Merina, late 19th century. Bombyx silk, natural and synthetic dyes, supplementary wefts; 231cm x 180cm. Royal Ontario Museum ROM2010.75.1)

Drawing on both her extensive field research and a deep knowledge of archival sources Fee is able to situate this tradition in the wider context of both regional textile history and changing Merina society at the onset of colonial intervention. She argues that brocaded silk cloths rather than being a royal tradition with symbolic imagery deeply imbedded in Merina culture were a “short-lived elite innovative dress fashion” with only indirect royal patronage and that motifs were decorative and at first subordinate to an interest in striping. External influences were a major factor and of these it was the wider Indian Ocean trade networks, and in particular the import of Omani textiles that were predominant.

(Cotton and silk striped mantle (arindrano) with brocaded borders, Merina, c.1882. Dresden Ethnographic Museum 19106)

(Merina, c. 1858-63, Borocera silk, natural dyes, metal beads, Royal ontario Museum, ROM 947.1.6)

The cloth above represents a rare type within an older tradition based on indigenous wild silk thread. Covered in tin or silver beads, these high value cloths called mandiavola were associated with maturity, authority, nobility, ancestors, and the creator spirit himself.

African Arts magazine is available here.

“Dyeing cotton in indigo, 1946. Igbomina Yoruba, Nigeria.”

The British Museum’s online catalogue has recently been revamped with a much more intuitive and user friendly search procedure that allows rapid access to much of their vast collections, including their photography holdings. A recent browse turned up this fine image of a Yoruba woman indigo dyer at work in the small town of Omu Aran east of Ilorin. This was once a major centre of Igbomina Yoruba women’s weaving and the photograph shows skeins of dyed thread hanging up to dry in the background. It was taken in 1946. Museum reference number is Af,B61.8. The photographer is not listed. Image copyright The Trustees of the British Museum.

Click on the image to enlarge. Visit the British Museum collections database here.

“Traditional headdresses, banned by Islamist group, return to Mali”–a great photostory from the Baltimore Sun

“Issues surrounding women’s rights and the treatment of women received special attention around the globe during International Women’s Day on March 8. To commemorate the occasion, Reuters photographer Joe Penney documented traditional headdresses worn by the women of Gao in Mali.

Radical Islamist group MUJAO (Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa) placed limitations on these headdresses during their nine-month reign, which ended in January with the arrival of French and Malian troops. The headdresses, made of beads, gemstones, fabric and fake hair and traditionally worn by elites for special occasions, were criticized by MUJAO, who said they were not Islamic enough.” Source. Photos by Joe Penney.

Balkissa Maiga, 17, wears a traditional Songhai headdress made by artisan Hally Bara in Gao, Mali, March 6, 2013. (Joe Penney/Reuters Photo)

Hally Bara, an artisan, poses for a picture in front of traditional Songhai and Tuareg headdresses and jewelry she made at the store in her house in Gao, Mali, March 6, 2013. (Joe Penney/Reuters Photo)

Aminata Toure, 10, wears a traditional Songhai headdress made by artisan Hally Bara in Gao, Mali, March 6, 2013. (Joe Penney/Reuters)

Fady DIcko, 14, wears a traditional Tuareg headdress made by artisan Hally Bara in Gao, Mali, March 6, 2013. (Joe Penney/Reuters)

Fatoumata Toure, 15, wears a traditional Songhai headdress made by artisan Hally Bara in Gao, Mali, March 6, 2013. (Joe Penney/Reuters)

More photos here.

New Books: “African Dress: Fashion Agency and Performance” and “Veiling in Africa”