July 17 – October 17, 2004
KUBA RAFFIA CLOTH
On view in the Virginia W. Kettering Gallery of Textiles
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RAFFIA TEXTIlE, Kuba, Shoowa, Zaire (Africa) 20 1/2 X 22 inches, Collected in Kinshasa, 1988, Miami University Art Museum, Oxford. Ohio, Gift of Ralph and Barbara Bresler, 1991.429. |
The Bakuba Kingdom includes some eighteen subgroups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. Since the seventeenth century, the people of this region have created cloth from the fibers of the raffia palm. These textiles are distinctly different from other woven fabrics, in that the cloth is made of untwisted raffia that is from 28" to 34" in length, and several rectangular sections are joined to make long skirts. These skirts are embellished with embroidery, appliqué and cut pile velvet. Men and women wear these embroidered skirts at important ritual ceremonies including funerals. Smaller embroidered pieces were once used as a form of currency among the Kuba people.
The raffia weavings featured in the exhibition are on loan from the Miami University Art Museum in Oxford. These textiles were collected and donated to the university by Miami alumni Ralph and Barbara Bresel.
Admission: FREE