Kasai-Sankuru River region, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date:
Early to mid-20th century
Label Text:
Kuba raffia textiles testify to the roles of men and women: women make the thread, men weave the cloth, women stitch the designs. This skirt uses an overall appliqué design, a technique that began from the need to patch prized cloth wrappers as they wore out and ultimately became an end in itself.
Description:
Raffia appliqué textile overskirt with an embroidered border and an edge that encloses tightly bundled and twisted raffia producing a spiral border.
Provenance:
Belgian convent collection, Zaire
Marie Eliane d'Udekem d'Acoz, New York, -- to 1983
Exhibition History:
TxtStyles: Fashioning Identity, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 11-December 7, 2008
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