African and African Inspired Textiles

African and African-Inspired Textiles

by Patricia L. Cummings

The photo above shows a hand made batik fabric, (16" x 16 1/2"), from Africa. Batiks are created by using a resist dye technique which utilizes the application of wax to prevent certain areas of the cloth from absorbing dye. Later, heat is applied to melt the wax. This is a very simplistic explanation and is just my understanding of the process. I will stand corrected, should anyone wish to add a more complete description.

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The three batiks shown on this page were purchased from the "African Fabric Lady," Chriss Covert, who was vending at the show, "A Quilter's Gathering," in Nashua, New Hampshire, November 2003. She lives in Maine and goes on frequent buying trips to Africa to bring home these wonderful textiles.

Note the vibrant ochre yellow color background on this 14 1/4" x 15" batik fabric piece.

You will notice that all three images of the batiks depict people in an action mode: rowing, stirring, and walking. I wonder if this is a typical approach to batik design in that particular area of Africa (Gambia).

Notice the color contrast in all three of the batiks, and how light and dark colors are manipulated skillfully. While the designs may look "primitive" to some people, at second glance, they are actually quite a bit more sophisticated than first thought.

The two designs were used to make decorative accent pillows for a bedroom that was decorated in an African theme. The room hosts a large, stuffed lion named, "Mahoogala," brown down coverlets, various African wild animals, carved in various media, and a wall quilt in felted wool.

The small, machine quilted, wall hanging above, (11" x 13"), is a beautiful little piece that I could not resist buying as a finished piece.

Wool wall hanging with images from Benin/Dahomey.
Click on quilt image to see a larger view.

*The doll on the left, was ordered from England. I could not have known at the time that the doll is a derisive figure that is reprehensible and derogatory. The "Golliwog" doll has always been described as a beloved figure that showed up in British books for children in the late nineteenth century. For a different view, please visit the Jim Crow Museum site: http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/menu.htm

Dahomey Revisited: A Tribute to Harriet Powers

by Patricia Cummings

The quilt, shown above, was put together in a relatively short time, having been started on January 30, 2004 and finished on February 2, 2004. I decided to back the top with a piece of fabric from Senegal, and I secured the layers together with black embroidery floss ties. The edges are brought from back to front, and sewn down.

I took black wool, washed it in cold water, and dried it in the dryer with heat, in order to "felt" it. The piece of colored wool were purchased as a packet of felted wool. That came in handy for creating the design motifs.

The outline shapes of the animals are available in a book: Quilting the World Over by Willow Ann Soltow, (Chilton Book Company, 1991). If you enjoy international textiles, this book is a must-have for your library and worth trying to find a copy, even though it is now out of print. The author has added a lot of good history information about the Dahomey area. Additional information about Dahomey can be found online here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahomey

I have used the recommended traditional colors of red, blue, green, and magenta, but have added other colors as well. I have chosen how to stitch each motif as I worked, so each design is sewn on, in whatever way suited me at the moment. Mostly, they are applied with running stitch, or buttonhole stitch appliqué. Embellishments were at my whimsy, too.

I added the cross, in remembrance of Harriet Powers' love of the Bible, and in honor of all of our Black sisters and brothers who have had some cross to bear in their own lives. It is with joy that personal burdens are overcome so that one can become free from the chains of the past. Harriet Powers did not have the opportunity to read and write, and so expressed herself by making Bible quilts. My prayer is that we all reach our full potential, and through education and faith, people of all colors can learn and be the best that they can be.

To see a photo of the Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt that is located in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, click here:

http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=116166

In re-creating some of the traditional Dahomey designs, as set forth by Soltow, I realize that I do not fully comprehend the hidden meanings the images may hold. I have "borrowed" these motifs from another culture, and in that transition, they have become "Americanized," if you will.

In Always There: The African-American Presence in American Quilts by Cuesta Benberry (The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc., 1992), the author states that these kind of motifs are "symbolic in nature"... and "represented battles and heraldic devices, illustrated proverbs and transmitted subtle message."

The book, Stitching Stars: The Story Quilts of Harriet Powers, Mary E. Lyons (Aladdin Paperbacks, 1993) is geared toward ages 8-11. In spite of this, it is full of information of interest to adults as well. In particular, the quilt panels from the Benin area are very interesting because the animals presented on them are so similar to those of the Soltow book.

In one instance, the author mentions that the sun-god Lisa is symbolized by a bird, a lion, and a cross, shown together. The way that various cultures have used symbols to represent ideas has always been a point of fascination for me.

The fabric, shown above, is from the country of Senegal.
I used this fabric as the backing for the animal images quilt above.

Click on the image to see a larger view.

I look forward to learning more about the people of Africa and their textiles. I hope that you have enjoyed seeing these examples, as much as I have loved writing about them.