Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveler

Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveler - Kuba cloth

sometimes i visit these: Congogirl on Twitter / Bloglines Congogirl link / Congogirl's Links List on My Del.icio.us / Where IS DR Congo, anyway?? / Congo Daily / good summary article on DR Congo / Samantha Power's article, "Bystanders to Genocide" / Dizolele - Eye on Africa / Congo Blog - Ba Leki / Cedric Kalonji's photo blog / Extra Extra / Nayembi / Thirteen Wildlife Blogs from DR Congo / Babycatcher / Global Voices / Helene in RD Congo / ID Land - adventures in international development / John's Blog / Kim Gjerstad in Congo / On Safari with el Jorgito / The Salon of News and Thought / This is Zimbabwe / Bluehaired Mary / African Path / Global Bioethics Blog / Somewhere in Africa / Africa is a Country

November 2009


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	Fri, Jan. 25th, 2008 12:13 pm

Kuba cloth

I have a lot of photos from Kinshasa and Congo in general that I always intend to post right when I take them, but since that hasn't happened, I'll try to post a photo each Friday.

This photo was taken in the Marché de Voleurs or Marché de Valeurs, depending on your perspective (Market of Thieves or Market of Treasures) near the Gare Centrale (central station) in Kinshasa. Piles upon piles of Kuba cloth is for sale, a textile with several manifestations. They are made from raffia and traditionally use natural dyes, although more recently I've seen bright pinks and purples and brilliant indigo blue joining the color schemes.

The cloth is traditionally made and used in the vicinity of Sankuru District in eastern Kasaï Province. Typically it is reserved for ceremonial dances, not worn on a daily basis. The piece on the right side of the photo has texture where the fibers were rubbed before being embroidered into the work. The pieces in general incorporate geometric motifs and tend not to be symmetrical or perfectly squared off - additional bits may be sewn on as partial borders or pieces may be sewn together to create a larger whole. Plainer pieces without all the geometric embroidery may have geometric patches sewn onto a solid background or may be decorated with kaori shells.

Tags: africa, congo, kinshasa, photos

claudelemonde

certain people i know

	Fri, Jan. 25th, 2008 09:09 pm (UTC)

i love your journal.

congogirl

	Sat, Jan. 26th, 2008 03:18 am (UTC)

Why thank you!

kevin_hogan
kwabena

	Sat, Jan. 26th, 2008 12:51 am (UTC)

Nice pun!

I assume that the _official_ name is "Marche de Valeurs" :) Tsotsis everywhere...

congogirl

	Sat, Jan. 26th, 2008 03:09 am (UTC)

Re: Nice pun!

I guess it depends on who named it, and that I cannot say! In DR Congo, it is shegues or streetkids that hang around there in addition to the vendors.

angel80

	Sat, Jan. 26th, 2008 01:51 am (UTC)

Beautiful!

moon_happy

	Sat, Jan. 26th, 2008 03:24 am (UTC)

The designs are beautiful! What is the texture like?

congogirl

	Mon, Jan. 28th, 2008 02:33 pm (UTC)

The texture is fairly rough, although the fabric is not very stiff. It is made from raffia, and the combed fibers provide a relief (i.e. not flat) but it's not soft as in fluffy. Depends on the piece - some with smaller designs (see the one with triangles in the center) are more finely woven and will be stiffer and thus feel a bit rougher.

grrlypainter

	Sat, Jan. 26th, 2008 04:57 pm (UTC)

Wow, I really like the one on the far right. I bet the ones with the shells are really cool. I wanted to get you a book on weaving those for christmas, but it cost almost $300.! And I'm not that rich...yet! :)~

congogirl

	Mon, Jan. 28th, 2008 02:40 pm (UTC)

I like the one right next to the one on the far right. I should post some photos of the ones I bought. I have one or two with shells - they aren't quite as interesting but they are a different style.

(Anonymous)

	Thu, Feb. 7th, 2008 05:02 am (UTC)

Kuba cloth

Another cool feature about the Kuba cloth (at least the older ones) is that the pattern can be identified with certain Kuba kings. You'll see the same patter on wooden boxes, stools, etc.

Lorraine

congogirl

	Thu, Feb. 7th, 2008 02:53 pm (UTC)

Re: Kuba cloth

Ooh, thanks for that tidbit, I did not know that!