African Textiles - The Newark Museum

Cloth has been an integral part of African life for centuries, whether serving as a valued trade commodity or communicating the wearer s kinship group or status in the community. Woven into the fabric by hand; stenciled, painted, or embroidered onto machine-woven fabrics; printed by machine; or produced by cutting and subtracting threads, these designs are outstanding in their bold, rhythmic compositions and dynamic color schemes. The fabrics reproduced in this book of postcards, ranging from a cotton wrapper hand-spun in Burkina Faso to silk brocade from Morocco, reflect the rich and colorful tradition of textile design in Africa. Most of the designs are from the twentieth century; many were created within the past twenty-five years. 30 full-color reproductions.