learning pack - horniman museumstaging.horniman.ac.uk/media/_file/textile-facts-final.pdf ·...

TextileKS3 & GCSE Art and Designlearning pack

Fact FilesKEY:

Embroidery

Pattern

Resist Dye

Trade

Weaving

Ghana, West Africa, Ashanti people.

Cotton printed with ink made from tree bark using stamps made from a calabash.

Cotton: Cotton grows in tropical regions in Africa, India and the Americas. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained in little fluffy balls called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread, which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric. Originally the cotton would have been woven from locally grown cotton but more recently machine woven cotton was bought from European traders.

Tree bark: The ink is made from bark mixed with iron slag, a dark substance left over from iron production. These ingredients are mixed with water and boiled down to create a thick gooey ink. Iron oxide in the iron slag acts as a mordant for chemicals in the bark (i.e. it makes the colour stick to the cloth).

Calabash: A calabash is a fruit like a pumpkin or melon. The flesh of the calabash is scraped out and the skin is cut into shape. Once dry, it becomes hard.

Adinkra (Add-in-kra)

Where is it from?

What is it made from?

Fact file

Touch cotton bollsand gourd stamps from box

See photograph of gourds growing on a tree from box

Textiles © Horniman Museum and Gardens 2

Printed.A sheet of cotton, which may have already been dyed or left white, is laid out by the printer (usually an elderly man) and he draws a grid using the ink and a bamboo splint or comb. He then uses the stamps to print the pattern by dipping them in the ink and rocking them on the fabric at regular intervals.

Examine the textile.The stamp has been used all over it to create a pattern.How many times is it used in each grid. Is it used the same way up or rotated?

How is the pattern made?

Who makes and wears it?

The word ‘adinkra’ means to say goodbye, so the name comes from the cloth’s use in funeral ceremonies. According to Ashanti legend, the first Adinkra cloth was produced when a rival king called Adinkra was defeated. He wore the cloth to express his sorrow at being taken away from his people. The cloths are draped like a toga and are worn not only at funerals but also on other special occasions. Adinkra is worn by both men and women but is usually made by men. Men’s cloths measure twelve yards, women’s six. Women traditionally make the dye, whereas men do the printing.

Adinkra continued...

Patterns and symbols

Some scholars say that the Islamic tradition of writing talismans on cloth inspired Adinkra. Each of the Adinkra symbols are associated with different proverbs. The symbol on the mustard coloured cloth means Gye Nyame “Symbol of the all powerful and everlasting nature of God” and on the orange Obi nka Obie “I offend no-one without cause”. Other proverbs associated with adinkra symbols include “What I hear I keep” and “Love never loses its way home”. Some symbols represent different objects such as a wooden comb or a crocodile. When made for a

Trade and Influence

It is one of the only textile techniques from West Africa which pre-dates colonialism. Originally the cloth would have been woven by local men using locally grown cotton. Woven cotton was one of the things which was traded in Africa for slaves as part of the slave trade. Even after the slave trade ended, Africans

continued to trade woven cotton fabric with Europeans. El Anatsui is an artist from Ghana who lives in Nigeria and makes sculptures from unwanted materials. He is a member of the Ewe people and much of his work is inspired by traditional crafts. His bottle cap sculptures are inspired by both kente cloth and adinkra cloth.

funeral, the proverbs used will be ones which will remind people of the dead person.New stamps are being created all the time. A recent stamp is called “VW” as it is based on the Volkswagen symbol. However it seems the true meaning of the cloth comes from the background colour, which is highly symbolic in Ashanti culture (see kente cloth). Red and brown cloths were used at funerals and white cloths were worn at other celebrations and special occasions. You can easily find many websites which will tell you the meaning of the different Adinkra symbols (see Bibliography).


Nigeria, West Africa, Yoruba People.

Shirting cotton, stitched with raffia and dyed with indigo.

Cotton: Cotton grows in tropical regions in Africa, India and the Americas. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained in little fluffy balls called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread, which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric.

Indigo: Indigo dye comes from a chemical which occurs naturally on every continent. It normally comes from plants (woad, which ancient Britons wore on their faces, is an example of indigo) but can also be found in certain sea snail shells. Most natural indigo comes from the indigo plant which grows in Africa and Asia.

Raffia: A fibre made from the leaves of the raffia plant (like a palm tree). The spine of the leaf is stripped, making a tough thread which can be put to lots of uses.

Adire alabere (Add-ear-ray al-ab-air-ray)

Where is it from?


Fact file

Touch sample of cotton bolls from box

Touch sample of raffia from box



Traditionally, these textiles are worn by women in pairs – one as a skirt, the other as a shawl. In West Africa weaving is typically men’s work, whereas decoration and embellishment is left to women. When European traders brought ready woven cotton to West Africa, women could produce their designs in higher volume so a generation of female artisans and entrepreneurs emerged.

Adire alabere continued...


Some of the patterns do symbolise objects. One pattern is called ‘fingers’ whilst another is called ‘cocoa’. Most of the designs are probably just decorative however.

Which of the shapes in the pattern do you think is called ‘fingers’?

Trade and Influence

European cotton traders in Africa sold shirting cotton produced from European mills found in cities such as Manchester. This cotton was one of the things which was traded in West Africa for slaves. The slaves would be shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas. There, they would often work on plantations, growing cotton. The cotton would then be shipped back to Britain, where it would be woven into cloth. This is an example of what is known as the Triangular Trade, which kept the slave trade going for so many years.

Adire alabere is a stitch resist technique where fabric is stitched in regular folds and pleats. It is immersed in dye and the dye cannot reach the areas of the cloth which have been tightly stitched so it creates a pattern of dyed and un-dyed areas. Yoruba women stitch the folds into the cotton fabric, usually by hand, using strong raffia thread. Raffia thread is used because it can be pulled very tight without breaking.The stitched fabric is then


dipped into a vat of indigo dye. This may be repeated to achieve a deeper blue black. Once dry, the raffia stitches are cut with a razor blade. Where the fabric was stitched, the dye cannot reach the fabric, so these areas remain white. In the flat piece you can see some of the raffia stitches. The cone shaped piece is the adire before the stitches have been removed. Lines in the pattern can be achieved with folds which are then stitched in place. Small

stones are sometimes stitched into the fabric to create small circles. This technique is similar to Japanese shibori and Indian tie-dye.

Compare the two pieces of Adire alabere. Can you see where the stitches have been on the flat cloth? Can you imagine what kind of pattern would be on the conical cloth if it was opened out?


South-west Nigeria, West Africa, Yoruba people.

Woven shirting cotton, painted with cassava pasteand dyed with indigo.

Cotton: Cotton grows in tropical regions in Africa, India and the Americas. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained in little fluffy balls called cotton bolls. There are some bolls in the textile box for you to examine. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread, which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric.

Cassava: This is a plant which grows all over Africa. Its white root looks a bit like a cross between a carrot and a potato. It is ground to make flour then mixed with copper sulphate and water to create a paste which is used to make the pattern.

Indigo: Indigo dye comes from a chemical which occurs naturally on every continent. It normally comes from plants (woad, which ancient Britons wore on their faces, is an example of indigo) but can also be found in certain sea snail shells. Most natural indigo comes from the indigo plant which grows in Africa and Asia. Indigo is used for Adire eleko as it is readily available in West Africa and also because it is a cold water dye; many dyes need to be heated to make them work and a hot dye would dissolve the cassava paste that is used in this technique.

The man wearing a crown is King George V, grandfather to Queen Elizabeth II. This popular Adire eleko design was originally made to mark the Silver Jubilee (25 years on the throne) of King George and Queen Mary in 1935 when Nigeria was a British colony (it was ruled by Britain). Adire eleko designs often reflect the history and culture of the area.

Adire eleko(Add-ear-ray ee-lay-ko)

Where is it from?



Fact file


Find the man wearingthe crown in the pattern.

See photograph of gourds growing on a tree from box


Resist dyeing.Designs are drawn or stencilled by hand onto a sheet of cotton in cassava paste. This is allowed to dry and then the fabric is dipped into a vat of indigo dye. The picture shows a piece of Adire eleko before it has been dyed.The cassava paste acts as a barrier to the dye, so the areas which are covered in the paste do not pick it up. This is similar to batik which uses wax as a barrier or ‘resist’. The paste is not a perfect block for the dye and some does seep through.



Traditionally, these textiles are worn by women in pairs – one as a skirt, the other as a shawl and women created most of the hand drawn Adire eleko. West Africa has a strong Islamic tradition. As Islam spread across the area, people, especially women, began to cover themselves more and more, and the demand for textiles such as these increased. Christianity came to the continent later, but had a similar effect. As demand increased and stencils began to be used, men became involved in the making process and from the 1960s, male city workers began wearing shirts made from Adire eleko as a way of displaying their heritage.

See how the white cotton is dyed light blue where the cassava paste has been.

This is why the design only shows on one side of the fabric. The fabric is dip dyed several times to achieve the deep blue black, which is highly prized by the Yoruba. Great care has

to be taken so as not to crack the paste, which would spoil the patterns. Once the dye has dried, the paste is scraped off the cloth. Originally, designs were hand drawn using a feather quill. As the demand for these textiles increased, people started to create stencils using thin sheets of metal – originally lead linings of tea chests and cigar boxes but later from sheets of zinc.

Look for the shapes which were created using a stencil. How big do you think the stencil was?

Adire eleko continued...

Trade and Influence

European cotton traders in Africa sold shirting cotton produced from European mills found in cities such as Manchester. This cotton was one of the things which was traded in West Africa for slaves. The slaves would be shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas. There, they would often work on plantations, growing cotton. The cotton would then be shipped back to Britain, where it would be woven into cloth. This is an example of what is known as the Triangular Trade, which kept the slave trade going for

so many years. Adire eleko was developed in the early part of the 20th Century as the trade in European textiles grew. Originally it was a local trade. This local trade was damaged in the 1930s as people started to use synthetic indigo, which meant that the quality of the pieces reduced and they became less desirable. In the 1960s and 70s, the trade in Adire eleko was revived particularly due to the demand from Americans who were working in the area and by Nigerians who lived in the cities and wanted clothing which reflected their heritage.


Rajasthan, India.

Cotton dyed with synthetic dyes.

Cotton: Cotton grows in tropical regions in Africa, India and the Americas. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained in little fluffy balls called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread, which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric.This piece of cotton is probably made from Indian grown cotton. Dyes would originally have come from natural sources, such as indigo, but the dies used in this piece are probably synthetic. Most dyes now used in India are synthetic.

Bandhani odhni - Tie-dye shawl(Band-arn-ee odd-nee)

Where is it from?


Fact file



Tie dye is a resist dye technique which uses twine to bind the cloth before it is dipped in the dye. The dye cannot penetrate the tied parts of the cloth so once the binding is removed, the bound areas remain undyed. In India the technique is called bandhani.

Look at the odhni. Some of the bindings are still in place. The fabric has been folded three times so that the pattern is repeated three times. You can see how the fabric is still creased in places where it was bound.



The word ‘bandhani’ comes from the Sanskrit word ‘bandhana’ meaning to tie. The English word ‘bandanna’ also comes from this word. This piece is a shawl, or odhni. An odhni is worn by women as a shawl over the head and shoulders with one end tucked into the waistband of a skirt. Both men and women carry out this work. Women will often dye their own scarves in their homes.

The process can be repeated several times to create different coloured design. You must start with the lighter colours first. Once died, you add more bindings and dye again so that you build up more and more colours.

Look at this shawl and work out the order in which the colours were added.

Further colours can be added by dipping a part of the fabric rather than the whole thing in the dye. The green, pink, blue and yellow circles of this shawl are probably achieved this way as these colours don’t appear elsewhere on the fabric.

Bandhani odhni continued...


The colours of the odhni have many different meanings which might relate to caste or to marital status. Gifts are given on special occasions and may have different meaning depending on where the family is from. Purple is sometimes the colour of despair, but the meaning changes from region to region. This shawl was most likely made to be sold in tourist markets so the colours are probably not considered as important.Perhaps because of the binding technique used, bandhani are often considered symbols of fidelity and given to married women.

Trade and Influence

These are often sold with the ties still in them to show that they are genuine and have not been printed. Simpler designs are cheaper as they requireless work but some bandhini designs are very complicateand therefore more expensive.

In the 1960s tie dye became associated with the hippy movement. As more and more people from Europe and America travelled to India on voyages of spiritual discovery, they brought back tie dye to demonstrate the connection they felt with India. A simple version of tie-dye is quite easy to achieve, so it was fairly simple for the hippies to produce when they returned home.

Textiles © Horniman Museum and Gardens © Horniman Museum and Gardens 9

Indonesia.

Cotton, wax and dye.Cotton: Cotton grows in tropical regions in Africa, India andthe Americas. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained inlittle fluffy balls called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cottonthread, which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric.

It is unusual to find all of these designs on one piece. There are so many on this one because it is a sampler (see ‘Who makes and wears it?’ overleaf). Each of the designs has a different name and a different meaning, which may vary from place to place.Semen giring – these patterns have leaves and foliage in them.This one shows Mount Meru, which in Hinduism and Buddhism is believed to be the centre of the world. Sida mulya – a wish for honour. A kain (skirt) with this design would be given as a wedding gift. Disang bali – means ‘split up and come back together’. Naga tapa – the naga is a serpent or dragon. As in Chinait is a symbol of good luck. Garuda – the garuda is a large mythical bird in Hinduism and Buddhism. The way that they are tied around the waist also has special meaning.

Batik

Where is it from?



Fact file


Find all of the designs.Can you see the creatures and objects in the design?


Batiks is a resist dye method involving wax. Designs are painted onto white cotton in molten wax. After the wax has cooled and set, the fabric is dyed a light colour, for example yellow. Where the wax has been, no dye can reach the fabric, so it remains white. More wax is added and then the fabric dyed a darker colour, for example brown. Again, the dye cannot reach the areas which have been coated with wax, so



This piece is a sampler – it is made to illustrate the kinds of designs that a batik artist can produce. People would come to the artist and select a design from the cloth and the designer would make a new cloth with this design all over it. The writing is not normally found on a batik – this is just to show people the names of the designs. These textiles are given as wedding gifts and worn on special occasions. They are worn as kain (skirts) and are worn by women.

both the yellow and the white areas remain. This process can be repeated over and over.

See if you can work out the order that the colours were dyed in.

Because solid wax is quite brittle, it cracks easily so some dye can seep through. You can see where this has happened. These lines and cracks are a feature of batik. Look at the

tjanting (or canting) used to apply the wax, and wax from the box. The small pot of the tjanting is filled with wax and flows out of the little nozzle onto the fabric. These designs are probably made using a special wax stamp made from wood and copper. The copper is coiled and attached to a wooden block to create small wells, which are then filled with wax and pressed onto the fabric.

Batik continued...

Trade and Influence

Batik is thought to be over a thousand years old and can be found all over Asia. Many researchers believe that it originated in India and then travelled all over Asia via the silk road. A 4000 mile route which originally brought silk from central China to eastern Europe which started during the Roman rule in Europe. They were so desirable to wealthy Europeans that many designers copied it

and started a movement called Chinoiserie. Chinese and Japanese textiles had a huge influence on the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th Century in Europe and America, with artists such as William Morris using many Chinese and Japanese motifs in his wallpaper designs. Nowadays designers such as Matthew Williamson are inspired by Chinese and Japanese patterns.


Mali, West Africa, Bamana (or Bambara) people.

Cotton painted with mud.

Cotton: Cotton grows in tropical regions in Africa, India and the Americas. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained in little fluffy balls called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread, which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric. The cotton is hand woven in narrow strips.

Mud dye: The cloth is prepared by dipping it in a solution made from the leaves of certain local trees. Once dry, the designs are painted onto the cloth in a dark river mud. A chemical called tannic acid from the leaves reacts with iron oxide in the mud to create a stable or ‘fast’ dye which won’t wash out. The tannic acid acts as a mordant – a substance which stabilises a dye. The designer, who is typically female, outlines the designs in mud and then fills in the spaces. The mud dyes the fabric black, so she must draw the negative spaces (i.e. the spaces around the pattern), leaving blank the areas which are to remain white.

Bogolanfini - mudcloth (Bog-o-lan-fee-nee)

Where is it from?


How is thepattern made?

Fact file


Can you see any curved lines or circles in the pattern?

How many strips make up the fabric?


Many of the designs are given names depending on what they look like. The designs are normally just for decoration, and don’t seem to have any other meaning. This piece shows a pattern made from evenly spaced small white squares. This is called Wara Kalan Woro and represents a panther’s skin. The long white oblongs are called Jala Je, which means white belt.The patterns of this cloth mark different areas and show which way round it should be worn.



The cloth is worn like a toga by anyone who is likely to lose a lot of blood as it is believed that it will give protection from evil spirits which might enter their body through a wound. The maze-like designs are said to confuse spirits so they can’t enter the body of the wearer. Men wear the cloth when they are hunting. Women wear the cloth when they are menstruating or during childbirth.The cloths are also worn by women during their initiation when excision (the removal of part or all of the clitoris) takes place. This practice has been condemned by the international community as it increases certain health risks. However it is still practised by communities in every continent.

Bogolanfini continued...

Trade and Influence

The trade in Bogolanfini started as a local trade – Bamana women made it for themselves or for other Bamana women.It was first produced commercially as part of the promotion of a film festival in the Mali in the 1970s when it captured the imagination of both Malians and the international market. There is now a worldwide demand for it as a symbol of African identity. Bogolanfini has great significance within Mali. In the

Find the different areas of this cloth

Worn nextto body

Main part of cloth.Wrapped behind back.

Worn at thebottom by legs

Wrappedover left

hand side.This sectionis worn on

the front ofthe body

USA, some African-Americans use the cloth to mark their heritage – both Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill have been pictured wearing mud cloth. Clothing label Harmon has produced a mud cloth suit. Designer Giles Deacon designed a pair of Converse trainers with a mud cloth design for the (Red) campaign which donates to HIV patients in Africa.

Why do you think he chosethis fabric?


China.

Silk with cotton embroidery. Silk: is made from the cocoons of silk worms.Silk has been produced in China and Japan for many centuries.It is made from the cocoons of the silk worm and the silk fibrescan be teased out of them to make a fine thread. Silk is extremely strong and has a beautiful sheen to it. Cotton: grows in tropical regions in Africa, India andthe Americas. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained inlittle fluffy balls called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up fromlots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread.

The piece is woven silk which has been embellished with embroidery. The embroidery uses satin stitch. Satin stitches are relatively long stitches. You pass the needle in and out of the fabric to make one stitch and then make another stitch in the same direction right next to it. In this way you can fill a shape with tightly packed stitches to fill it with colour. This means that the stitches are the same on the back as well as the front. Compare this to surface satin stitch used in shisha embroidery.

Examine the fabric. Can you see the stitches lined up next to each other?

Chinese tabard

Where is it from?



Fact file

Touch sample of silk cocoons and cotton bolls from box


The dragon is a symbol of the emperor of China. It is a sign of power and is the luckiest sign of the Chinese zodiac. It also symbolises adaptability and willingness to change as wellas strength.The dragon is still a very important symbol in Chinese society. A 2004 Nike advertising campaign which showed basketball player LeBron James slaying a dragon



China is a large country and has many different cultures and traditions. This type of robe would have been worn in the cities for special occasions and ceremonies. This design is based on the dragon robe, which was worn by the emperor, but is probably made as a souvenir costume.

had to be taken down after the Chinese public complained that it was disrespectful. The tabard also has clouds that represent the celestial realm as the dragons were thought to fly through the clouds to get to heaven. The flaming pearls close to the dragons signify wisdom, as they help the dragons get to heaven. Many Chinese symbols get their meaning from a visual pun, called a ‘rebus’. The word

Chinese tabard continued...

Trade and Influence

Chinese dragons can be seen in many different places today. They are a common symbol for tattoos and can be seen on many high-street garments. Maharishi is a street label which uses Chinese-style embroidery to decorate many of their clothes including their famous drawstring trousers which have embroidery up the leg. The Chinese developed the manufacture of silk and domesticated the silk worm. The route travelled by traders was called the Silk Road, and

the back and forth travel of people along this route is responsible for carrying many different objects, artefacts and influences. There is evidence that China was trading silk with other nations for thousands of years. Silk has been found in the hair of an Egyptian mummy dating from 1070BC.Buddhism spread from India into China along the silk route. Technology from China was also brought back to Europe along the silk route including printing, gunpowder and compasses.

for bat sounds like the word for happiness so the bat isa symbol of happiness.The flowers at the top and bottom are lotus flowers, a symbol of good fortune and purity. The multicoloured stripes towards the bottom represents the Sea of Happiness from which rises the Mountain of Longevity.The white birds are cranes which also indicate a long life for the wearer.


Indonesia, Island of Savu.

Commercial cotton dyed with synthetic dyes. Commercially bought cotton dyed with natural and synthetic dyes.Cotton: Cotton grows in tropical regions in Africa, India and the Americas. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained in little fluffy balls called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread, which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric.Dyes: The blue dye is indigo. Indigo dye comes from a chemical which occurs naturally on every continent. It normally comes from plants (woad, which ancient Britons wore on their faces, is an example of indigo) but can also be found in certain sea snail shells. Most natural indigo comes from the indigo plant which grows in Africa and Asia. Other dyes may be synthetic or from turmeric (yellow) or beetle fruit mixed with red areca nut.

Worn as a skirt by women.In Savu there are two main groups of people: the Big Blossom and the Small Blossom. Each of them have strict rules about the kinds of design, called ikat, they can wear. An Ei worapi such as this is neutral, so can be worn by either group. As the Ei worapi does not have the ritual meanings of other ikats, it can be worn every day. Other ikats are only worn during ceremonies and other special occasions. Ikat weavers are invariably female.

Ei worapi (Eye war-app-ee)

Where is it from?


Who makesand wears it?

Fact file



weaver belongs to: Big Blossom weavers will sew a red seam, Small Blossom weavers will sew a black seam.

Look at the seam.What colour is the thread?What group does the weaver belong to?

Often you will see an Ei worapi with a red seam (Big Blossom) but only four bands at the top and bottom (Small Blossom). This is because the weaver is from a different group to the wearer so she uses the stitch of her clan so the spirits of her ancestors are not upset with her for working for the other group. Special ikats will only use two colours whereas an Ei worapi can use three or more.

The Ei worapi is an example of a warp ikat. The piece would have been woven from the top of the skirt to the bottom and then the two sides joined together to make a tube.Ikat is another resist dye technique. In ikat the threads are dyed before they are woven to create the design. This means the threads must be selectively dyed so that the



The patterns are inspired by a variety of influences. If you look closely at some of the thinner bands of the skirt at the top and bottom, you can see that they have a single line of blue and white dots on either side. This shows that the ikat is from Savu.An Ei worapi is deliberately woven with a pattern which does not have ritual significance to either of the main groups of Savu. However you can see who the skirt was intended for by counting the bands on either end of the skirt – this ikat has 7 narrow bands at the top and bottom of the skirt which shows that it was woven to be worn by a member of the Big blossom group. Small blossom skirts have 4 bands. The colour of the seam stitch also reveals which group the

pattern emerges once they are woven together. For this skirt, the threads of the warp (the vertical threads) are first bound and then dip dyed. The binding stops the dye from colouring all of the threads. Creating the complicated pattern you see is obviously a very tricky job. The strings must be very carefully bound so that when they are strung on

the loom they create a pattern. The weavers then weave with a very strong weft thread (the threads which run horizontally), which are woven very tightly so that it is the warp threads which can be seen. This kind of weave is therefore called ‘warp-faced’ (compare to the weft-faced kente cloth).

Ei worapi continued...

Trade and Influence

Ei worapi were either woven to be worn by family members or other Suvanese. Other ikats are kept in the family and treatedas heirlooms. Nowadays there is a large tourist trade in ikats and Ei worapi will be woven to sell to visiting tourists. The designs are often drawn from Dutch furniture designs. You can see in the thicker bands the rose design is probably influenced by Dutch designs.


Republic of Macedonia - a landlocked country on the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe bordered by Serbia and Kosovo to the north, Albania to the west, Greece to the south, and Bulgaria to the east.

Linen, a natural fibre made from the stems of the flax plant. It is embroidered with wool thread.

Linen: Made from flax, which has been used to make cloth since Neolithic times. Flax fibres are stronger than cotton but not as stretchy. Flax fibres are sometimes used in banknotes because they are so strong and help to stop the notes from tearing. Flax is grown throughout Europe and is readily available in the Balkans. First the stems are cleaned of leaves, seeds and flowers, then they are soaked in water. This means that the long linen fibres can easily be separated from the rest of the stem. The fibres can be woven into a tough thread which is then woven to make linen.

Wool: Comes from sheep. It is used all over Europe. The fleece is cut from the sheep and then spun to make threads which can be woven or knitted.

Embroidered linen chemise

Where is it from?


Fact file

Touch samples of non-carded (tangled) and carded (disentangled before spinning) wool samples from the box’


The chemise is made from linen and has embroidered cuffs and collar. This kind of embroidery is called ‘counted-thread’ embroidery, which means that the embroiderer uses the threads of the woven linen as a guide. This means that each stitch is exactly the same size, which makes the design very regular. The embroideress uses different colours to make the pattern. Similar designs can be found in Asia, Turkey and in Palestinian costume.

Look closely at the pattern. You can see that it is made up from many tiny diagonal stitches

How is the pattern made? Who makes and wears it?

Embroidery helps to protect fabric as it makes it stronger. You can see on this garment that the areas which would be most likely to show wear are those which are embroidered. These kinds of chemise would have been worn by men and women on a day to day basis. More intricately embroidered garments would have been

Embroidered linen chemise continued...


Red is the colour of life and is the most widely used colour in Eastern Europe.You can find patterns such as stars, the sun, leaves (oak leaves) and crosses in Macedonian embroidery since ancient times. The patterns normally show plants or object in nature but not often animals or humans.As with many ancient traditions, the original meanings of the symbols have been lost, and the designs are used as decoration. The embroiderers are aware of their long tradition and many designs are passed down through families.

Trade and Influence

Originally peasant women would stitch chemises for themselves and their families. A peasant is someone who produces nearly all of their food on small areas of land. As the peasant way of life started to disappear, the embroideress became an artist or artisan who travelled around the area selling her embroidered garments to others. Folk costume is a symbol of Macedonian identity. Macedonia is influenced by many different cultures because of its history. This is reflected in

worn for weddings. Now they are considered part of the Macedonian national costume and are only worn on special occasions. Women extract the fibres, weave the fabric and embroider the final garments. Originally women would have learned to embroider in their homes.

its traditional embroidery. Designers such as Hussein Chalayan, John Galliano and Nicholas Ghesquiere use folk embroidery in their work. Nowadays the demand for this kind of costume comes from Macedonians who want to have national costume for special occasions. Textiles are one of the largest industries in Macedonia and many Macedonians work in factories producing clothing for all of Europe, although rarely using traditional techniques.


Central America (Guatemala and Mexico), Maya people.

Cotton and wool.Cotton: This is locally sourced and used for the main body of the Huipil which is then embroidered with synthetic (nylon) or woolen threads. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained in little fluffy balls called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres.These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread, which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric. Wool: The belt is woven from wool. Europeans introduced sheep to central America in the 16th Century. Sheep were highly prized for their wool as it kept the Mayans warm in the colder climates.

The Huipil is the main part of a Mayan woman’s dress. Huipils such as this one would be used everyday. Some Huipils are woven all over and these are preserved for special occasions. A Huipil tied with a belt is a very old form of Mayan costume and dates from a time before the Spanish came to Central America. Weavers are women. They learn from an early age – most are 14 or younger. If they excel, they are given the job of weaving Huipils to dress the local saints. Traditionally a woman would not weave the same design twice as being able to weave many designs is a sign of her increasing wisdom and age. Men spin wool whilst they are out tending the sheep.

Huipil and belt (Wee-peel)

Where is it from?



Fact file

Touch sample of cotton bolls and non-carded (tangled) andcarded (disentangledbefore spinning) wool samples from the box


The Huipil is woven in 3 pieces using a backstrap loom. A backstrap loom is so called because it uses a strap which goes behind the weaver’s back. She can use the strap to loosen or tighten the loom by leaning backwards or forwards. The pattern on the cloth is achieved using a technique called brocade, which is common in many cultures, including European culture. A plain fabric



Red is the most commonly used colour in Huipils. Over the years, the favoured shade of red has changed to a darker maroon or brown. The Huipil has a great deal of significance for the Mayan people. The patterns have not really changed in many centuries and can be found on stone carvings dating back to ancient times. Nature is the inspiration for all of the patterns found on a Huipil. When a woman puts her head through the central hole of a Huipil she is reminded of her place in nature. The sun is often represented as a large diamond. Smaller diamonds represent planets and stars.

is woven in the usual way using plain coloured warp and weft threads. Extra pieces of coloured thread are introduced to the weave to create a pattern. These extra threads are not part of the structure of the fabric but are woven tightly into it. They are therefore called ‘floating wefts’, as they ‘float’ above the basic structure of the woven fabric. The belt would also be woven on a backstrap loom using wool.

Huipil and belt continued...

Trade and Influence

The trade in woven goods is the major source of income for Mayans. The increased tourism in Guatemala has increased demand for woven souvenirs. This means that women in Mayan societies are often the main breadwinners.

In the 16th Century the Spanish banned Mayans from wearing Huipils. At the end of the 19th Century, a saint appeared to a Mayan woman in a dream and told her to re-learn the technique of weaving by studying the Huipils which were worn by the statues of the saints. John Galliano used Mayan textiles as inspiration in a number of his collections for Dior (particularly his Ready-to-wear Autumn-Winter collection from 2002).

Numbers are important in Mayan culture, with the number 9 being particularly lucky.

Can you find groupsof nine things anywhere onthe Huipil?

Huipils are also made for saints during important festivals. Great care must be taken when weaving a Huipil for a saint as they must be perfect and all of the symbols must be appropriate and correct. Each weaver has a signature pattern which is woven into the bottom edge, sleeve or neck of the Huipil. Experienced weavers can tell exactly where the Huipil comes from by examining the design.


India, probably made for export to Indonesia.

Cotton, locally grown and spun. As this piece is producedcommercially, synthetic dyes are probably used.Cotton: The seeds of the cotton plant are contained in little fluffy balls called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread, which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric.

Indian ikat

Where is it from?


Fact file




Like the Suvanese Ei worapi, this is an example of ikat. This piece was made in India, as you can see from the label, probably for export to Indonesia. The pattern is created through resist dying the threads before they are woven. The warp threads are bound and then dip dyed. The ‘chevron’ (v-shaped) design is created by binding a large number of warp threads together and then dyeing them. Once the dye is dry, you pull the centre of the bundle upwards before stringing the threads on the loom. In this way the band is staggered to create the chevron effect.



This would be used as every day dress in Indonesia. It would be wrapped around the waist as a sarong.

Indian ikat continued...


The band of darker blue in the centre of this sarong is in the Indonesian style and shows that it is made for the Indonesian market.

Trade and Influence

Made for export as evidenced by the “Made in India” label.

Myanmar (Burma).

Velvet decorated with sequins, beads and cord.

Velvet: This soft fabric has a short pile to it, so that it has a slight furry feel. Traditionally it was made from silk. The pile is created during weaving. A metal rod is woven through the warp along with the weft threads. The rod pulls loops of the warp out of the fabric. The weaver continues to weave using more weft threads and more metal rods. The loops are then cut to remove the rods and create the pile. The tight weave holds the cut threads in place. More recently commercially produced velvet would be used and this kalaga probably uses commercial velvet. Metal sequins are made from wire. The wire is bent into a circle and then beaten flat with a hammer.

You can see that some of the sequins have small gaps in them where the wire ends.

Other scraps of fabric are used and the Kalagas are sometimes trimmed with yellow-gold fabric from Buddhist monks’ robes. Other glass beads and cords would have been traded with British merchants.

Kalaga (Kall-agg-a)

Where is it from?


Fact file


Kalagas use a technique called stump work. Stump work is an appliqué technique where patches of fabric are sewn onto another piece of cloth. In stump work, the patches are padded out, giving the finished cloth a three-dimensional effect. These figures are padded with cotton and sometimes hair. When making a kalaga, first pieces of cloth are cut to the



The Burmese started sewing Kalagas about 150 years ago. They were originally developed in the royal court in Mandaly (the old capital) but soon became popular throughout Burma. Kalagas normally illustrate scenes from a story or from Buddha’s life. They have many uses in Burma including wall hangings, curtains, room dividers, coffin coverings and theatre backdrops They are also sometimes offered as gifts to local monasteries.Many kalagas nowadays are produced for tourists.

shape and are decorated with sequins. They are attached to the base cloth and stuffed with cotton or another padding.The Kalaga also uses couching, which is where cord is sewn onto the fabric to form a quick and simple line. Metal sequins are sewn closely all over the fabric to decorate it. Plastic and glass beads also embellish the fabric.

Kalaga continued...


This Kalaga seems to showa dancer from one of the many forms of traditional dancefrom Burma.Most other kalagas have a religious significance or show lucky animals or signs ofthe zodiac. As Burma has strong Hindu and Buddhist influences throughout its history, stories from both traditions can be found on Kalagas.

Trade and Influence

Some of the techniques used may have been brought over from Thailand.Burma was a British colony until 1948. The British would have brought wool, glass beads and sequins with them to trade with the locals. Kalagas became more and more popular in Burma during this time and so trade with the British was vital for meeting the demand for Kalagas within Burma. Nowadays the materials are either produced in Burma or in neighbouring countries. Tourists are the main market for kalagas nowadays.


Ghana, West Africa, Ashanti people. A similar version in more muted colours is also made by Ewe people.

Rayon dyed with various synthetic dyes.

Rayon: a synthetic fibre made from wood pulp. Originally kente cloth was woven using silk which was bought from European traders, who in turn would have bought it from Japanese and Chinese silk traders. From the 1920s Ashanti weavers used rayon, which was still imported but much cheaper than silk.

Ashanti people were an essential part of the global trade in gold as most of the gold mines in Africa could be found in Ashanti land. This meant that Ashanti traders could acquire expensive silks and fabrics out of which they could make their kente cloths. Silk from China and Japan was traded with Europeans who brought it to Europe to make expensive garments. Europeans traded silk with the Ashanti in return for their gold and other goods. The silk traded in Africa came either from waste threads from Italian factories, or it was bought as woven cloth and then unravelled. In the 1960s kente cloth became internationally associated both with Africa generally and with Ghana specifically. It is a source of Ghanaian pride and is often used by Ghanaian artists and expatriates to symbolise their heritage. El Anatsui is an artist from Ghana, who lives in Nigeria and makes sculptures from unwanted materials. He is a member of the Ewe people and much of his work is inspired by traditional crafts.His bottle cap sculptures are inspired by both kente cloth and adinkra cloth.

Kente cloth (Ken-tay)

Where is it from?


Trade and Influence

Fact file



Both men and women wear kente cloth. They wrap it around the body like a toga. Women’s cloths are smaller than men’s. Kente is worn by royalty or by people at special occasions. It was highly prized and the more colourful versions were saved for special occasions. Blue and white versions were produced as everyday wear in the 19th Century.

Look at photograph of kente weaver from box

WovenAshanti men weave kente cloth in strips which are then sewn together to form kente cloth. The Ashanti do not use the word ‘kente’ – the term probably comes from a Fante (a neighbouring people) word meaning basket. Ashanti weavers use a loom made by a local carpenter. They weave very long strips of cloth (up to 60 metres). The top end is tied to a stone and as they weave the cloth, they wind it


round the bottom part of the loom to keep it tight. The long threads which go vertically are called the warp threads. The threads which go horizontally are called the weft threads (warp goes south-north; weft goes east-west). Patterns in the kente cloth are created by using different coloured weft threads. However the weaver also lets the warp threads show through in certain sections.

Look carefully at the colours in the cloth. You can faintly see stripes of yellow and green running up the cloth. This colour comes from the warp threads. The other colours in the cloth come from the weft threads. What colours are the weft threads?

Kente cloth continued...


Ashanti only use geometric patterns in their weaving – i.e. patterns made from straight lines and regular shapes. The patterns are non-figurative – they aren’t pictures of anything in the way that adire eleko designs are. Each pattern has a proverb associated with it and the cloth as a whole is given a name such as ‘Liar’s Cloth’ or ‘Waterboatmen’. Many designs have their own names which might be associated with the weaver or with events in history. Colours are also highly symbolic in Ashanti culture. Kente cloth normally uses bright colours which are associated with positive things like growth and strength. Darker colours are normally associated with age and death as things normally get darker as they get older (see Adinkra cloth).

Colours take their meaning from the qualities of things that are found in nature which are that colour.Yellow:represents the yolk of the egg as well as certain fruits and vegetables. The colour is a symbol for things that are holy and precious.Maroon:is associated with the colour of Earth, the mother. It represents healing and protection from evil.Blue:stands for the sky and is used to symbolize holiness, peace, harmony, good fortune, and love.Green:is associated with plants and stand for growth and good health.


Japan.

Silk with painted design.

Silk: Silk has been produced in China and Japan for many centuries. It is made from the cocoons of the silk worm. Touch sample of silk cocoons from box and see how the silk fibres can be teased out of them to make a fine thread. Silk is extremely strong and has a beautiful sheen to it.

Kimono

Where is it from?


Fact file

Touch sample of silk cocoons from box


Painted on silk.The pattern is painted by hand onto the woven silk using fabric paint.

Feel the parts of the kimono where it has been painted. How has the paint changed the way the fabric feels?



Both men and women wear and make kimonos. A kimono is normally very long. You wrap it around like a robe and then tie a belt, called an obi, around the middle, pulling up the extra fabric so that the kimono is the right length. Tying the obi and the kimono is very complicated. There are many different types of kimono for different uses. A black kimono like this, which is only decorated below the waist, is worn by the mother of the bride on her wedding day.

Kimono continued...


The crane is a very powerful symbol in Japan. When cranes mate, they stay with that partner for life and raise their young together. Therefore the crane symbolises fidelity in Japan. The crane is often associated with marriage for this reason. This kimono may be worn at weddings by the mother of the bride (see above). More recently the crane has become a sign for peace because of a young girl called Sadako Sasaki, who died in 1955 aged 12. She contracted leukaemia from being exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. Before she died. Sadako had tried to fold 1000 origami cranes because there is a story in Japan that if you fold 1000 cranes, the gods will grant your wish. Sadako died before she could achieve her goal but each year people send cranes to the statue of Sadako which stands in Hiroshima as a wish for peace.

Trade and Influence

In the 18th Century in Europe, travellers to China brought back textiles, porcelain and other goods. They were so desirable to wealthy Europeans that many designers copied them and started a movement called Chinoiserie. Chinese and Japanese textiles had a huge influence on the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th Century in Europe and America, with artists such as William Morris using many Chinese and Japanese motifs in his wallpaper designs. Nowadays designers such as Matthew Williamson are inspired by Chinese and Japanese patterns.

The paint sits on top of the fabric – it is not like a dye where the fabric actually changes colour. This means it can rub or flake off which makes the pattern very delicate. This shows that this kimono was made to be worn for special occasions and not everyday.


India.

Polyester embroidered with thread.

Polyester: Polyester is a synthetic fibre made from oil. Originally saris would have been made from silk or cotton but now are commonly made from polyester or nylon (another synthetic fibre).

Most saris are made on mechanical looms. Traditionally they would have been handwoven and decoratedby hand. Saris are the traditional dress for women in South Asia. Nowadays it is worn in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Women in Pakistan now prefer the two-piece trouser and top called a shalwar kameez as the sari is considered Hindu dress (Pakistan is a Muslim country). The sari is wrapped around the waist and then one end is either draped over the head or over the shoulder and down the back. See below for instructions on how to drape a sari.A sari is typically worn over a petticoat and a short blouse (called a choli). The midriff is normally left bare.

Sari

Where is it from?



Fact file


Woven. The pattern is made from gold threads which are woven into the fabric to create the design using a technique called brocade (also used to make the Huipil)The gold thread is just added for decoration – it is not technically part of the structure of the fabric. These types of threads


are therefore called ‘floating wefts” because they “float’ above the other wefts.

Turn the fabric over – you can see the shapes of the pattern but the positive space is now negative space and vice versa. When colours are swapped in this way it is called the inverse (like reverse).

Sari continued...

How Do You Wear it?


A sari normally has a patterned border running the length of the fabric. One end is highly decorated whereas the other is plain. The plain end is tied around the waist.The other end is where most of the pattern can be found and is called the pallau. It is this end which is on display which is why it is often highly decorated. Red is considered a lucky colour in many parts of Asia. In India it is often the colour which a bride wears for her wedding. Gold is a sign of wealth and so is used for special occasions.

Trade and Influence

Saris have been worn in India for thousands of years. Some scholars say that women only started wearing the blouse and petticoat under the sari when the British took control of India in the 19th Century. Before this time, many women would not have worn anything under their saris – which would have offended the more modest Victorian Britons.There is a belief in Hinduism that fabric that has been pierced by a needle is impure so tailored garments were not common in India before Islam came to the country.

Step 1:Starting at the navel, tuck the plain end of the sari into the petticoat for one complete turn from right to left. Make sure that the lower end of the sari touches the floor.

Step 2:Beginning from the tucked-in end start making pleats in the sari, about 5 inches deep. Make about 7 to 10 pleats and hold them up together so that they fall straight and even.

Step 3:Tuck the pleats into the waist slightly to the left of the navel, and make sure that they are turned towards the left.

Step 4:Drape the remaining fabric around yourself once more left to right, and bring it up under the right arm and over the left shoulder so that it falls to about the level of the knees.

Step 5:The end portion thus draped is the pallau, and can be prevented from slipping off by fixing it at the shoulder to the blouse with a small safety pin.


Japan.

Cotton and cold water dye (indigo).Cotton: Cotton grows in tropical regions in Africa, India and theAmericas. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained in little fluffyballs called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread,which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric. Indigo: Indigo dye comes from a chemical which occurs naturallyon every continent. It normally comes from plants (woad, which ancient Britons wore on their faces, is an example of indigo) but can also be found in certain sea snail shells. Most natural indigo comesfrom the indigo plant which grows in Africa and Asia.

Shibori sampler

Where is it from?


Fact file



Shibori is a technique similar to bandhini or tie-dye. In Japan the word shibori describes patterns made through binding cloth (like bandhini) but also to stitching (like the adire alabare) and pleating. The fabric is folded or creased and then stitched or bound in place before dying. Once it has been dyed, the bindings are



Shibori fabric has a number of uses. Kimonos, especially summer kimonos, can be decorated with shibori but it can be put to many uses.

Shibori sampler continued...


Shibori is a decorative technique. Complex designs could be achieved by skilled craftsmen and women so would have been highly prized. The more complex a design, the more expensive the fabric.

Trade and Influence

Designer, Issey Miyake is highly influenced by traditional Japanese textiles. His Pleats Please range is influenced by shibori. Shibori designs are often described as ‘memory on cloth’ because it is as though the cloth remembers what has been done to it to create the pattern. This idea inspired Issey Miyake to experiment with folds and pleats and he uses them to give a garment shape.

removed and you can see the pattern made by the binding process. In Japan, shibori is a precise science. Shibori artists can create different patterns by changing the thread they use for binding the cloth or changing the number of times they wrap the thread around the cloth.

Smooth out the fabric where it has been unbound and look at the edges of the pattern. You can see that the shapes are slightly blurry. Why do you think this is?


Sind, Pakistan.

Cotton with embroidery in silk, polyester and cotton.Mirrors added.

The backing piece is a scrap of fabric probably left over from something else. The women of Gujurat embroider onto scraps of fabric and then will appliqué the finished piece onto a garment.This means that they can easily carry the piece around with them. The mirrors used are now specially manufactured for shisha embroidery.

Cotton: Cotton grows in tropical regions in Africa, India and theAmericas. The seeds of the cotton plant are contained in little fluffyballs called cotton bolls. The bolls are made up from lots of tangled fibres. These can be teased out and spun to make cotton thread,which can then be woven or knitted to make fabric.

Silk: Silk is made from the cocoons of silk worms.Silk has been produced in China and Japan for many centuries.It is made from the cocoons of the silk worm and the silk fibrescan be teased out of them to make a fine thread. Silk is extremelystrong and has a beautiful sheen to it.

Shisha embroidery work (Shee-sha) – Boy’s shirt and trousers

Where is it from?


Fact file

Touch sample of cotton bolls and silk from box


Shisha embroidery refers to the use of mirrors in embroidery. This technique can be found in Persian textiles from the 13th Century. Originally Indian textiles used flakes of a reflective substance called mica, which naturally occurs in crystal form in the deserts of Pakistan. The design is embroidered in a mixture of surface satin stitch (compare to the satin stitch used in the Chinese tabbard) and herringbone stitch. Surface satin stitch is an easy way of filling in



The mirrors are said to reflect the evil eye from the wearer or to trap it and stop it from causing harm. The evil eye is caused when other people are so envious of your good luck that they cause you to have bad luck.The influence of Islam means that patterns which represent animals and people are not common in this region. Patterns are therefore normally abstract and decorative or taken from plants and flowers.

designs. Stitches run back and forth on the surface of the fabric, so unlike satin stitch, the design does not appear on the back of the fabric except in outline. Because the stitches are so long, they are easily snagged so they often get damaged.

Herringbone stitch is made from diagonal stitches in opposite directions which cross in the middle. This is embroidered in the ‘Kutchi’ style, which originated amongst the farmers and herders of Gujurat.

Shisha embroidery work continued...

Trade and Influence

European ships used shards of mirrored glass as ballast (to weigh down the ships so that they float better). When they arrived in India, they would trade these shards for other goods. Pieces like these are often produced to be sold to tourists. The tourist trade is a good way for the women of the area toget some extra income and to make money from the traditional skills which they are lucky enough to have inherited from their ancestors. Shisha work is said to have originated in Persia in the13th Century. John Galliano has used shisha in his collections.


They would be worn at special occasions and ceremonies – a bridal dress would be covered in this kind of embroidery. Embroidery actually helps to strengthen fabric and therefore to preserve it. Women normally embroider in the home. Some commercially produced embroidery is made by men. This shirt and trousers are made for a boy to wear.


Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa, Shoowapeople, a group of the Kuba.

Raffia woven into squares and then embroidered with raffia thread.

Raffia: A fibre made from the leaves of the raffia plant (like a palm tree). Nowadays the spine of the leaf is stripped, making a tough thread which can be put to lots of uses.

Men weave the cloth from raffia fibres. A woman then embroiders the fabric. Shoowa have practiced this technique since the 17th Century. The earliest known example is from as early as 1666. The Shoowa sometimes wear their embroidery on skirts etc, but more commonly decorated squares of the fabric like this one are given as gifts. They can be used as dowry payments - given to a bride’s family by her husband’s family when they marry. In this way, Shoowa families can build up large stocks of the fabrics through the female line of their family, with cloths passing from mother to daughter when she marries. They are most commonly used as ‘grave goods’ – objects which are buried with a dead person to bring good fortune in the after-life. There is a strong belief that the relatives of the deceased will not recognise the spirit of the dead person unless they are wearing raffia embroidery. Nowadays, the importance of the cloths in marriages and funerals has meant that the craft is kept alive and the cloths are still produced and used.

Shoowa cut pile embroidery

Where is it from?



Fact file

Touch raffia sample from box


Follow the lines in the pattern and see how they change from positive to negative space.

Some scholars have attributed the designs to Islamic sources – the region had been trading with the Islamic north since the 14th Century. There are similarities with Islamic art in the geometric designs used. However another theory states that the designs came from symbols which Shoowa hunters used to communicate silently with each other.

EmbroideredThe fur-like feel is called a ‘pile’ – a word which is often used to describe carpets.The Shoowa embroideress softens the end of a very fine raffia thread by chewing it and rolling it on her thigh. She then threads it on a needle. She makes a small stitch through just one of the woven threads of the fabric and then cuts it using a sharp knife, making two



The cloths are given names based on the main design. Common names include ‘Crocodile’s Back’ and ‘Finger’. They might also be named after the woman who first made the design. The patterns are also used on woodwork and metal work. The designs are also sometimes seen in scarification – where human flesh is cut so that the scars create a pattern. The Shoowa embroideress is very skilled at creating pattern. It has been said that every geometric pattern in the world can be found in Shoowa textiles. The use of positive and negative space is particular interesting.

very short ends. There is no need to knot the thread as the tightness of the weave keeps the thread in place.She continues in this way, building up a design all over the fabric. She does not mark out her pattern, but builds it as she sews.

Feel the pattern with your finger.

Shoowa cut pile embroidery Shoowa cut pile embroidery continued...

Trade

Shoowa fabric is used in marriages and funerals so is still very important in Shoowa life today. There is also a large trade with overseas textile collectors as the cloth is highly prized outside of Africa.This is particularly important for Shoowa people today. Because of the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many people are being forced to flee their homes. More and more Shoowa people are selling their family’s raffia embroidery in order to get much needed money. 20th Century European artists such as Klee and Matisse cite Shoowa designs as an influence. Matisse had a large collection. In the early 20th Century, many European artists looked to African arts and crafts for inspiration as they believed that this art was pure and simple and closer to human nature. Many Africans found this belief offensive as it suggests that they are less intelligent or less cultured than Europeans. If you look at Shoowa cloth, you can see how skilled the embroideress needed to be. Shoowa designs come from a long history and are no more ‘natural’ than European art or design. You can still sometimes hear people talk about Africa in this way.However, these artists did help to create a market for the cloth outside of Africa. This market still exists today and Shoowa cloth can fetch very high prices.


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