Produced by the Kuba people of the Congo, this popular African pattern is created with the leaf of the Raffia tree. Each leaf is hand cut and then dyed using natural resources such as indigo and mud. Once the patterns are created the fabric is created using an embroidery technique that weaves fibers into strips.
What is an African pattern?
A major form of expression, African patterns are popular as a means of personal adornment and a medium of communication. These exquisite textiles give wearers and admirers insight into social, religious, and political African contexts in an abstract and approachable way.
How are African prints made?
The method of producing African wax print fabric is called batik, which is an ancient art form. The designs are printed onto the cloth using melted wax before dye is applied to add usually 2 or 3 colours. The crackling effect displayed on the cloth is caused by the wax-resist dyeing technique and special machinery.
What Colours are used in African patterns?
Black: spiritual energy and maturity, as well as funeral rites and mourning. Blue: love, harmony, togetherness and peace. Maroon: healing, plus the colour of Mother Earth. Purple: normally worn by women, associated with femininity.
Where is African textile made up of?
They are made of wool or fine animal hair in a weft-faced plain weave pattern. Some fragments have also survived from the thirteenth century Benin City in Nigeria. Historically textiles were used as a form of money since the fourteenth century in West Africa and Central Africa.
Where do African patterns come from?
Produced by the Kuba people of the Congo, this popular African pattern is created with the leaf of the Raffia tree. Each leaf is hand cut and then dyed using natural resources such as indigo and mud. Once the patterns are created the fabric is created using an embroidery technique that weaves fibers into strips.
What is African cloth called?
African wax print fabric, also know as kitenge and ankara fabric, is mass produced, colourful, 100% cotton cloth commonly worn and used to make clothing, accessories and other products in Africa.
How can you tell real African fabric?
Avoid Poorer Quality Items, Ankara Fabric Is Made From 100% Cotton. Simply touching the fabric can give you a really good indication of the type of quality. If the fabric feels soft and flexible then it could well be authentic wax.
Is it OK to wear African wax print?
I’ve heard African designers in the U.S. say as long as people don’t wear printed pieces like an “African costume,” but instead, incorporate them into their own style, it’s fine for anyone to wear these prints.
What are African prints called?
African wax prints, also known as Ankara and Dutch wax prints, are omnipresent and common materials for clothing in Africa, especially West Africa. They are industrially produced colorful cotton cloths with batik-inspired printing.
What does black mean in Africa?
The term Black generally refers to a person with African ancestral origins. In some circumstances, usually in politics or power struggles, the term Black signifies all non-White minority populations.
What does red mean in Africa?
The Pan-African flag’s colors each had symbolic meaning. Red stood for blood — both the blood shed by Africans who died in their fight for liberation, and the shared blood of the African people. Black represented, well, black people. And green was a symbol of growth and the natural fertility of Africa.
What does gold stand for on the kente cloth?
Kente is a meaningful sartorial device, as every aspect of its aesthetic design is intended as communication. The colors of the cloth each hold symbolism: gold = status/serenity, yellow = fertility, green = renewal, blue = pure spirit/harmony, red = passion, black = union with ancestors/spiritual awareness.
Is there silk in Africa?
In Africa, Madagascar has a long history of silk production. Madagascar produces two types of silk: one is cultivated silk from breeding silkworms (Bombyx mori which was introduced in around 1850), and the other is wild silk from the native silkworm Borocera Madagascariensis, which lives in wild tapia trees.
How is death viewed in African culture?
Death is the last phase of the elaborate celebration of the African life cycle . Death is recognized in Africa through a rite of passage that prepares the spirit of the deceased to journey on to the next realm. In many African societies, after the body is buried, the family will have a second, more elaborate funeral.
Why is kente cloth still very special?
Originally, the use of kente was reserved for Asante royalty and limited to special social and sacred functions. Even as production has increased and kente has become more accessible to those outside the royal court, it continues to be associated with wealth, high social status, and cultural sophistication.