According to a Kuba legend, King Shamba Bolongongo introduced the arts of weaving and embroidery to his people in the 17th century.  The Kuba, located between the Sankuru and Kasai rivers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, have since been renowned for their textiles.  Both men and women contribute to the production of textiles made from raffia palm.  While men are responsible for weaving the cloth, women practice a range of embroidery techniques.  The textiles are often embellished with geometric  patterns, an aesthetic seen on many Kuba artforms, including body scarification.  Their textiles function as gifts to establish relations of reciprocity, as compensation in a legal settlement, or as part of a marital contract.  In addition, they are worn during public ceremonies and rituals, and are used to line coffins and to wrap the bodies of the deceased.

         The long men’s wrapper consists of several panels of plain-weave raffia cloth. Smaller pieces of cloth are sewn on  to create a checkered border, demonstrating the persistence of geometry in Kuba textiles.  A cloth such as this would be worn as a skirt by wrapping it around the waist multiple times.  Panels such as the smaller one exhibited here are marketed extensively in the western world and are known as "Kasai Velvets."  The velvety texture is achieved by rubbing each individual fiber by hand before embroidering it.  This type of embroidery is called "cut-pile," and is done solely by women on a plain-woven raffia .  Traditionally, a cloth such as this would be sewn to other panels to create part of a ceremonial costume, or draped over the stool of an important person. 

                                                                                                 Amy Wenzel ’03