Tapestries

When it comes to tapestries in African art, these are mainly two main trends, hand-picked fabrics in fabric from something where Korhogo in Ivory Coast and fabrics made from rafia fiber cone cidas kassaï velvets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. KORHOGO TELAS COSTA DE MARFIL Korhogo is a city located in the north of Ivory Coast, in the Senufo region known for its traditional cotton fabrics with multicolored decorations covering all ethnic scenes typical of the villages, from music to the works of the countryside to traditional mask dances. Two types of fabric are sold in Korhogo. The traditional cotton fabric that was hand woven in small and elongated strips of cloth about fifteen centimeters wide sewn together. This fabric was quite thick and did not allow to obtain a good level of detail. Currently these fabrics are manufactured, in a village near Waranené, semi-industrially in finer grain which allows for a higher level of detail and since it is a single body cloth the drawing in the seams is not broken. The paintings are hand made by women. Once painted, they are fastened with nails or bedbugs on wooden panels, doors or posts for RAFIA TERCIOPEL KASSAI KUBA (RDC) Known under the name “velos kassaï”. Its fabrication 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 queens, in the great ceremonies, carried around their waists long woven, up to six meters, of embroidered raffia, called nshak, which contained the most important aspects of their cosmogony.