African Textiles on Sale

Vintage Kuba Hat on Rayela Art

I have a 25% off sale going on in my Etsy shop through Thanksgiving.  I've always loved African textiles and try to carry some in my shop on a regular basis.  For some reason, they seem to sit on Etsy...  Hopefully, this sale will help some gorgeous pieces find a new home.

The Kuba hat above has been a favorite by viewers, ending up in many treasuries in the past year.  Truly a gorgeous piece, it is probably from around the 1950's.  It comes from the Congo, an area in Africa rich in natural resources but enmeshed in terrible conflicts right now.  Overpopulation and ethnic clashes are threatening nature reserves, the most controversial being forested areas and corridors used by gorillas.  

The hat would have been worn perched on top of the head, held in place with a long hat pin.  I don't have any of the pins.  Priced at $180, the 25% discount brings it down to $135.

Kuba Cloths

I have 7 Kuba cloths currently listed:  Click!  I used to sell Kubas on eBay quite easily, but closed my shop there a couple of years ago.  They have not been a hit on Etsy.  I love them and have a couple in my own house.  Woven from raffia palms in a technique very similar to carpet weaving, they are pliable, soft and make great mats or can be framed and hung on the wall.  I have also seen pillows made out of them.  Picasso and other artists in the 1950's were greatly influenced by the geometric patterns found in Kuba cloths.  Kuba are also made using applique, but I don't have any at this time and they are much more expensive.  

There are many qualities of Kuba and these are the highest quality available in this size.  It is hard to tell how old they are, but the trader I bought them from estimated that they were at least 20 or 30 years old.  They are $125 and the discount brings them down to $93.75.

Senufo Bronze Pendant: Ivory Coast, Mali

I have four of these lost wax Senufo pendants, two with horses and two of women. The lost wax technique has been used for centuries around the world to cast small objects.  The original is made out of wax and then covered by clay.  The metal is poured in and the wax melts out, so each piece is a unique, one of a kind piece.  If you like rustic pieces, these Senufo pendants should grab you.  They would be great as key chain amulets.  Price:  $42  With discount:  $31.50

The 25% off sale will go through November 24th, Thanksgiving Day.  Use NOVEMBERSALE at check out and Etsy will figure out the discount automatically.  

See all of my African items:  Click!

Happy shopping!

African Textiles on Sale

El Anatsui: Making Garbage Speak

Nane
The October Gallery

I recently posted about Ellie's Cross Cultural Collaborative program in Ghana. She e-mailed me today about El Anatsui, an artist native of Ghana who has lived in Nigeria for many years and asked if I was familiar with his work. I wasn't. After exploring some links, I just had to share some of his work here on Fiber Focus as he embodies the essence of what I would like to see happen in this blog.

For a long time, I have felt the need help lessen the divide between "artists" and "artisans" which I believe uses ethnocentric language to categorize work that might have similar functions and skill levels yet results in a huge disparity of recognition and price point. The key, I believe, has to do with the educational level and language used by the maker in his or her description of the work. The first level of separation happens between developed and underdeveloped countries, while the second happens within those same countries, between the educated who have access to both language skills and to the markets that will support their prices.

Nukae
The October Gallery

El Anatsui has embraced the divide and consciously uses his fine art training to break out of that mold into one which addresses societal issues and the language of the people. He explains how if he chooses to work with bronze, the material is alien to the population. But, if he uses a Coke bottle, everybody knows what that is, and in knowing, they can see his work. The photos I chose for this post all resemble textiles, although Anatsui thinks of them as sculptures. He does acknowledge that he grew up among textile weavers and his father and brothers wore kinte cloths. Many of Anatsui's pieces are dimensional and free standing. The Metropolitan Museum video below has an excellent interview with the artist, where he speaks of how his pieces are assembled and how they can be displayed.



The transformation of garbage into something so beautiful is a powerful testament to how we perceive our surroundings. El Anatsui speaks of beauty as not only ocular, but as something that also has a qualitative value. A person can have physical beauty, but the inner qualities are what makes that beauty powerful and valuable. In the same way, his work has a definite beauty of composition which comes to life when the viewer understands and relates to the message.



As I was looking at his work, it occurred to me that he can only make his statement because he has a receptive audience who understands what he is trying to say. El Anatsui has the language he needs to bridge that gap between the monied institutions who can afford to house, display and purchase his work, as well as the life and cultural experience where he can communicate to the uneducated masses. Without that language, surely his special vision of the potential and message of garbage would have remained just that, garbage.

Versatility
2006
Aluminum and copper wire
Fowler Museum at UCLA, museum purchase, X2007.7.1

Africans have a long history of using garbage as a natural resource. Their tin painted suitcases, wire toys, pop can cars, tire sandals, papier mache bowls, recycled vinyl record beads and inner tube furniture have been raw materials for craft production for decades. If you are poor and you have the skills to weave, build, solder or cut, you can eek out a living with what you have around you. These crafts have had success with co-ops, fair trade groups and collectors. But, El Anatsui takes this tradition to another level. The sheer volume and size of his works make a powerful impact on the viewer. You look at it and try to imagine how many wine bottle wrappings it took to make this piece. Then you realize that this is nothing compared to what is thrown away daily.

Blue Moon
2008
Aluminum and copper wire
Collection of the artist

As our natural resources begin to run out, so will the availability of certain types of garbage. Copper wire used to be thrown about and now there are stories here in the United States of houses for sale being stripped during the night of anything containing copper. What will happen when plastics, aluminum, and tin become valuable? Hopefully, it will force us to establish better recycling systems and biodegradable containers. Meanwhile, we can let El Anatsui use his garbage to speak to us. If we listen, we will see our shared histories: our past and our future.

El Anatsui: Making Garbage Speak

Kuba Cloth: The Art of Woven Raffia

I can't think of another fiber form that better illustrates how to take a material like raffia, found abundantly in nature, and transform it into art more than the Kuba cloth of Zaire. Sure, I love fiber art in its many incarnations, but the kuba cloth has a special place in that repertoire for me. Kuba cloth was originally woven into long yardage used to make ceremonial skirts and clothing. The process is extremely laborious so 20th Century weavers began making smaller pieces for the tourist market as Westerners increasingly visited Africa. These smaller pieces may take up to a month to make, from the beginning of the process until completion.

There are two basic types of kuba cloths, each with its own appeal. The first is a flat-weave that often has appliquéd symbols and shapes over the background. The second is often referred to as plush or velvet raffia and is made similarly to a knotted carpet. Raffia is tied to the background weaving and then cropped closely. Kuba cloths may show symmetry in design, but they are often boldly chaotic. Parallels have been drawn between African American quilts to African influences found in kuba and other textiles.

Authentic Africa has a nice history on the Kuba textiles:

"The art of the Kuba of Zaire, which ranges from pipes to cups, metal to weapons, basketry to furniture to textiles, is remarkable for its abstract patterning. Traditional appliqued cloth was primarily made into dance skirts. Skirts and embroidered Kuba textiles were produced and used for ceremonial occasions and court rituals. Until it was replaced by cowry shells, the basic Kuba weaving unit, an undecorated square of plain cloth, the mbal, was used as currency. Kuba cloth is woven from raffia palm leaves. Production of the fine decorative textile is a series of endeavors engaging both men and women. The men are responsible for the growing, tending, harvesting and weaving of the cloth. The women are responsible for preparing it for decoration by pounding the stiff, rough cloth in a large wooden mortar until softened, for hemming and in some cases, treatment with brown, wine-red, black blue or yellow dye from local plant sources. The women create the cut pile embroidered panels as well. The men's dancing skirts are significantly longer than that of the women’s, sometimes having distinct borders with fringe and raffia bobbles. The women’s skirts up to nine yards in length, would be wound around the body several times and folded over a belt. Some of the decorative techniques incorporated by both men and women are applique and reverse applique, dyeing, tie-dyeing and resisted-dyeing, certain types of embroidery as well as patchwork. Patchwork in Kuba cloth came about because of the softening process. The pounding would cause holes to develop in the cloth that would need to be repaired; thus patchwork would be used. To further enhance the look and to balance the visual effect, other patches of various geometric designs were added. Some dancing skirts can take up to two years before all the cloth needed to finish the skirt has been gathered. The Kuba’s primary contemporary use of the cloth is at funerals of wealthy elders. The traditional techniques used to create the cloth have survived because of these funerals, enabling us to continue to enjoy the extraordinary creative Kuba textiles."

Vrije Universiteit Brussel has more historical information. The above photo from 1909 of Kuba dancers wearing skirts made of the woven raffia. On Kuba design they state:

" The outstanding Kuba style diagnostic is geometric patterning used to embellish the surfaces of many objects. These designs are woven into raffia textiles and mats, plaited in walls, executed in shell and bead decoration, and incised on bowls, cups, boxes, pipes, staffs, and other forms including masks. All art forms and designs are laden with symbolic and iconographic meaning, and the same is true of the rich Kuba masquerades."

Visit the page for more information on Kuba beliefs and traditions.


How can we use these wonderful textiles in contemporary settings? Some simply hang them as wall pieces or as center pieces on tables and dressers, but they can be framed or mounted for a more finished look. Indigo Arts of Philadelphia offers gorgeous pillows made out of kuba cloths for $110-$190:

Indigo Arts pillow using the plush raffia kuba cloth.

Indigo Arts pillow using the appliquéd kuba cloth.

Kuba cloth is easily cared for: it can be washed by hand with a mild soap. Crinkles can be flattened by spraying with water and ironed.

I have several kuba cloths available for sale in both my Etsy and eBay stores for $45 each:

Kuba on Etsy
Kuba on eBay

There are many qualities and price ranges of kuba cloths. I have been purchasing mine from the same African dealer for years and have always had customer satisfaction with them.

Kuba Cloth: The Art of Woven Raffia