Raffia fabric, embroidered with geometric motifs, presumably a woman's skirt

Unknown artist

Raffia fabric with embroidery, a so-called Kasai fabric, after the original geographical origin of the cloth. Such fabrics are used as dowries, worn as garments or intended as burial gifts. \Each piece of cloth has a symbolic meaning and is at least a personal expression. Behind the complex patterns lies a mythology and world of thought all its own. \The weaving is done by men, while women apply the embroidery. \Similar fabrics are made by various tribes throughout central and western Zaire, but are known as (Ba)Kuba fabrics. The Kuba practice agriculture, hunting and fishing. Each tribal area has a large degree of independence. What unites them is the king's military supremacy, traditions, mythology, and religion.‖ In Kuba art, with its heyday in the 17th and 18th centuries, men create the figurative images, while women are primarily concerned with abstract geometric representations.‖ The roots are in the distant past, in the Paleolithic era, which provided the archaic motifs such as the universal herringbone pattern. Later elements of native wickerwork and embroidery were adopted. In the 16th century, even medieval motifs from Western embroidery and heraldry were adopted. The art of velvet making is said to have been revealed to the Kuba at the time they settled in the Kasai region (van Griensven, 1986).