Kassai Velvet

Known under the name of “velours kassaï”. Its manufacture was introduced into the kingdom Kuba by King Shamba Bolongongo, great traveler, between the years 1.600 and 1.620. Men weave knots of raffia fiber on a vertical or inclined loom. They are tight knots and very close together, cut very closely which gives a velvet look. And Shoowa women are in charge of decorating, drawing, starting from one of the edges, can employ some cotton or wool threads or the same dyed raffia. These fabrics served, among others, as currency or dowry, they were also used in funerals and important events as a symbol of wealth. The kings and the queens, in the great ceremonies, carried around their waists long woven, up to six meters, of embroidered raffia, called nshakwhich contained the most important aspects of his cosmogony.