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Although
the Hair of Aoulaba factory printed cloth and Man’s Shirt with Mobile
Phone cloth originate from different cultures found in neighboring African
Countries, they do communicate through their media, method of construction,
and iconography the ability to convey meaning through visual language.
Non-verbal communication may be a more acceptable form of addressing
sensitive issues, as it serves as a vehicle to maintain open communication
and to provoke thought in others without direct confrontation.
As with verbal communication, visual language functions on a variety
of levels.
Reading
on an iconographic level, the mobile phone images printed on this Ghanaian
man’s shirt denotes the wealth, knowledge, and technological savvy of
its wearer. The particular colors,
decorative elements and shapes of a garment immediately mark out the wearer
of such an item as enjoying prestige, great wealth, and status.
The hairdo motifs in the cloth from Cote d’Ivoire may relate to
the importance of the head, which in most African cultures is considered
the most powerful and spiritual part of the body.
Intricate hairstyles maintain the balance and composure of the
wearer by mediating between the internal subjective realm and external
social realms.
These
cloths also function on a more conceptual or anecdotal level.
In terms of the Ghanaian shirt, the mobile phone imagery may suggest
that communication is an essential factor in all facets of life as a means
toward achieving wisdom, happiness, and success.
In conjunction with this conceptual mode of thought, many times
these printed cloths are associated with proverbs that do not necessarily
relate to their iconography. The cloths are generally awarded their proverbial
titles by vendors, usually women, who sell them in the markets. The ensuing non-verbal dialogue occurs mostly
between women, while the messages that these cloths convey are accessible
to the community at large. Proverb
cloths function similarly to billboards in the sense that their messages
are not limited in duration: they are repeated and reinforced as long
as they are seen and decoded. (Domowitz, 1992). This particular cloth with hairstyle motifs is called The Hair of
Aoulaba. The word aoulaba means
beautiful, large, full-figured woman.
It refers to the Miss Aoulaba beauty pageant that was established
by Madame Therese, the wife of a former president of Cote d’Ivoire, who
was herself a large figured woman. She
was extremely opposed to the trim Western standard of beauty that had
been popularized in the media and through the Miss Cote d’Ivoire Pageant. Upon donning a garment constructed from this
cloth, the wearer would be recognized as making a social commentary concerning
these diverging canons of beauty.
Hillary deMarchena ‘02
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