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Patchwork Skirt With
Raffia Embroidery:
Kuba, Zaire
Raffia cloth made from the raffia palm is decorated with abstract dark embroidery outlines. Sometimes the pattern is created by the outline of a patch. By stitching under the surface weave and over the back weave, the pattern emerges on one side with the obverse remaining blank. Many pieces of raffia cloth are sewn together to form these long skirts, which are worn by men or women. The skirts are held in place by belts decorated with cowrie shells imported from the Indian Ocean.
“As highly prized objects of value, these decorated cloths are used as gifts in establishing relations of reciprocity. For example, at a betrothal a youth’s female relatives embroider a skirt that he has woven for the bride-to-be. ...Men’s or women’s skirts serve as compensation in legal settlements, such as in adultery or divorce cases. The use of decorated garments is integrally linked with public ceremonies.” ¹
Roda Graham, Curator, Dr. Gilbert Graham, Curator
¹Adams, Monni, “Kuba Embroidered Cloth,” African Arts Magazine. November 1978, Vol. XII, No 1, p.30.