Travel around African fabrics and textile

Hello everyone,

We are living in an unprecedented period in our time, the closure of international borders due to the Coronavirus, which is certainly essential, is a difficult situation for all populations, and even more for travel lovers like me, installed on my little balcony, I have decided to offer you an extraordinary cultural trip, to make you discover some African materials and fabrics.

MyAfryka as you know is a window towards Africa that I wish to present to you, through tourism but also art and culture, new things are in preparation and I look forward to opening a new chapter with you.

Mrs Prue.

Bogolan

Originally from Mali, Just as its name suggests, Bogolan (Bogo = earth, Lan = from…) is a traditional fabric composed of cotton, clay earth and vegetable decoctions from leaves and bark of trees. The original patterns of this fabric were encodings with symbolic meanings used for specific rituals such as weddings or hunting. The manufacture of Bogolan is said to initially come from the Malian ethnic groups Sénoufo, Bambara, Dogon and Malinké, however, victim of its success, it is today manufactured in several countries including Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal or Ghana again. Its ethnic and traditional aspect has made it a centerpiece for African designers.

Raffia

The Raffia is a tree, more precisely a palm tree living in marshy and fluvial environments. The leaves of this tree with many functions are used in particular to make the raffia fabric most often used to make rich and traditional outfits as in the Congo, Togo or even Madagascar. This textile, due to its strength, has naturally established itself as an original material for furnishings but also for fashion accessories. There are different versions of woven raffia, with or without patterns, colored or not, one of the most common forms being raffia velvets from Kuba du Kasai, which are embroidered raffia canvas with a velvety appearance, to add aesthetics and value, we can for example add cowries. More and more artisans of this material offer a range of products which are very successful in the design world today.

Lwili Peendé

Lwili Peendé is a loincloth with unique patterns that can be found in Burkina Faso, although its origin and meaning is a real mystery, the appearance of this motley black and red print with its swallows that carry a message dates back to the beginning. from the 1950s, it is difficult to find information on this famous fabric, some say it came from Khartoum when others attribute Senegalese origins to it… Its cheerful colors give it a rather festive use.

Kente (or Kita)

Kente, in the Akan language of Côte d'Ivoire Means basket, a brightly colored fabric with geometric shapes, comes to us from Ghana and more precisely from the Ashanti and Ewe people, it is a noble fabric associated with royalty, appeared in the around the 12th century in Ghana, the Kente or Kita remained a fabric of value which spread beyond the borders, it can also be found today in Ivory Coast. Made of cotton and silk its manufacture is traditionally exclusively male the art of weaving is taught to young men from adolescence in all the complexity of its symbolism, because the shapes and colors represented on the fabric have nothing to do with it. Hazardous, there is a meaning for each combination… Little anecdote: Did you know that Michaël Jackson received a kente loincloth during his enthronement as Prince in a village in Côte d'Ivoire?

Samakaka

Black Yellow and Red are the colors of the Angolan flag that we find on the Samakaka, The black represents the African continent, the red the blood spilled for freedom and the yellow for the wealth of Angola, this very “pop” fabric. In itself is commonplace in Angola, on outfits and fashion accessories. Originally a people, the Mumuilas, indigenous people who use this cotton fabric to cover their private parts. Being part of the everyday life of Angolans, it is also found during carnivals and other festive events.

Lépi

The Lepi, commonly known as the indigo of Guinea, or the blue of Guinea is an emblematic loincloth, coming from the Fulani of Guinea, its peculiarity as you will have understood is its only indigo color, very present in West Africa, it is dyed with plants and bark, the cotton fabric is very light and pleasant to the touch.

Le Toghu

The Toghu is a fabric from northern Cameroon, from the Bamenda region, these yellow, red and white patterns are generally embroidered on a black velvet background, displayed on traditional outfits, it has stood the test of time and modernized itself with many designers who use it on very contemporary collections!

Wax

If there is a fabric in Africa that creates controversy, it is Wax !!! This more than famous fabric has always been in vogue in African societies, women and men like to wear it but it has also become a popular material for interior decoration accessories, yet originally this fabric was nothing African. It is actually from Indonesian culture and imported by Dutch settlers around the year 1800, who did not hesitate to imitate the technique of wax printing of Indonesian patterns and then flood the African market with this new textile, and the success of Wax Hollandais, was not long in coming, it crossed time and generations by imposing itself and constantly reinventing itself. However, there is some reluctance due to the fact that wax represents for some a colonial symbol, but its fame is still at its peak to this day.