DETAILS:

The Gao throw pillow has a bold contemporary look and features two beautiful examples of West African mud cloth and, in the center, a raffia reverse-applique hand-stitched Kuba cloth hand-made by Congolese refugees living in Kenya. This one-of-a-kind accent pillow celebrates the richness of these distinctive and unique African fabrics and will be a statement piece in any room.

• 20" x 20"

• Front – cotton and raffia

• Back – linen, in black

• Zipper closure

• Down duck feather insert

THE STORY:

I have long been fascinated with the African textiles known as “mud cloth.” Every piece of this cloth is unique and has a story to tell. Originally, mud cloth was from Mali in West Africa. Mud cloth is also called “bogolanfini” and consists of three words: bogo, lan, and fini. Bogo means “earth” or “mud,” lan means “with,” and fini means “cloth.” Each symbol painted on the cloth has special meaning and can tell the history of a village, a person’s occupation, social status, or proverbs. Some symbols remain a mystery.

Traditionally, men weave narrow cotton strips of fabric that are pieced together to form a larger rectangular cloth. Women dye the cloth by first soaking the fabric in ground leaves creating a yellowish color. It is then dried and covered with fermented mud to achieve patterns in black, brown, and white. These first two steps can be repeated many times to achieve the desired patterns and colors. Mud cloth is woven with hand-spun cotton.

The flatwoven Kuba cloth is richly distinctive and was first discovered at the end of the 15^th century when Portuguese explorers reached the coastline of what is now the Congo and Angola. The time-consuming fabric-making process remains the same today. Both men and women are involved in the production of the fabric. First, leaves are gathered from the raffia tree and dyed in earth-tone colors using mud, indigo, or substances from the Camwood tree. The raffia is softened by rubbing the fiber in their hands or gently pounding the raffia to make it easier for weaving. After the base cloth is finished, the women begin to embellish the fabric using techniques such as applique, reverse applique, embroidery, and patchwork. Base cloths can be three to five yards long with each small appliqued panel different from the next. It is said that the women make up the designs as they go and that embroidery is done from memory using raffia threads pulled from the cloth. Applique patterns are arranged to tell a story and each patch is symbolic.

The Kuba cloths I have were made by Congolese refugees living in Kenya and acquired while I was visiting a fair trade organization called Salom in Nairobi, Kenya. The organization was supporting this group of refugees by buying their Kuba cloth and using it in bags and other products. The pieces that I own have been hanging on my living room walls for several years and I continue to appreciate them as a true art form.

I purchased the mud cloths in a large market in Bolgatanga, Ghana. I was working with basket weavers who were part of a women’s development project within Trade Aid Integrated, a fair trade organization that markets the baskets.