Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Blue and orange printed fabric with custom printed portraits of Barack Obama

Catalog Data

Manufactured by:
GTP, Ghanaian, founded 1966  Search this
Printed by:
Shani Peters, American, born 1981  Search this
Subject of:
Aisha Cousins, American  Search this
President Barack Obama, American, born 1961  Search this
Medium:
cotton
Dimensions:
H x W: 46 7/8 × 68 1/8 in. (119 × 173 cm)
H x W (Vertical Repeat): 6 5/16 in. (16 cm)
H x W (Horizontal Repeat): 11 13/16 in. (30 cm)
H x W (Printed Portrait): 10 1/2 × 7 11/16 in. (26.7 × 19.5 cm)
Type:
textiles
portraits
Place printed:
Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
Place made:
Tema, Greater Accra, Ghana, West Africa, Africa
Date:
2011
Description:
Length of printed textile by GTP (Ghana Textiles Printing Company) customized with added printed graphic portraits of Barack Obama. The fabric has a large scale stylized floral design of the same flower printed in repeating columns. The flowers are wider at the middle with feathery blue petals surrounding a chartreuse and orange center and burgundy and white dots in the very middle. The flowers are placed in columns with the top sections nearly touching, but not quite. In the next column, the flowers are placed so that the wider middle sections are in the space created by the thinner top and bottom sections of the surrounding columns. There is a deep burgundy solid ground behind the flowers. An oval-framed portrait of Barack Obama is custom printed in black and white onto the manufactured printed fabric. Text inside the frame reads "BLACK PRESIDENT'S DAY FEBRUARY 21, 2011 / BARACK OBAMA 44TH PRESIDENT OF TEH U.S.A." The added prints are placed on the fabric in a scattered manner. Manufacturer's information is printed on both selvedges that reads in repetition "GTP GUARANTEED REAL WAX PRINTED IN GHANA 16785".
Topic:
African American  Search this
Africa  Search this
African diaspora  Search this
Design  Search this
Identity  Search this
Politics  Search this
Textile design  Search this
U.S. History, 2001-  Search this
Credit Line:
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Catherine E. McKinley
Object number:
2017.16.10
Restrictions & Rights:
Unknown - Restrictions Possible
Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
See more items in:
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification:
Textiles
Data Source:
National Museum of African American History and Culture
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5792cb0da-a560-4378-8c70-2af1f0a8d151
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmaahc_2017.16.10