Name/Title
African textiles todayEntry/Object ID
NK8887.S674Description
African Textiles Today illustrates how African history is read, told, and recorded in cloth. All artifacts or works of art hold within them stories that range far beyond the time of their creation or the lifetime of their creator, and African textiles are patterned with these hidden histories. In Africa, cloth may be used to memorialize or commemorate something -- an event, a person, a political cause -- which in other parts of the world might be written down in detail or recorded by a plaque or monument. Making and trading numerous types of cloth have been vital elements in African life and culture for at least two millennia, linking different parts of the continent with each other and the rest of the world. Africa's long engagement with the peoples of the Mediterranean and the islands of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans provides a story of change and continuity. African Textiles Today shows how ideas, techniques, materials, and markets have adapted and flourished, and how the dynamic traditions in African textiles have provided inspiration for the continent's foremost contemporary artists and photographers. With a concluding chapter discussing the impact of African designs across the world, the book offers a fascinating insight into the living history of Africa.Lexicon
Search Terms
art--african, clothing and dress--africa, costume--africa, textile fabrics--africa, textile fabrics in artBook Details
Author
Christopher SpringPublisher
British Museum PressPlace Published
City
LondonCountry
England, United KingdomContinent
EuropeDate Published
2012ISBN
9781588343802Notes
Length: 256General Notes
Note Type
ContentsNote
African textiles as historical documents -- Textiles and contemporary African art -- Fabric of a nation : the printed cloth of West Africa -- Kanga, capulana and shweshwe : the printed cloth of eastern and southern Africa -- Textiles and trade -- Textiles, status and leadership -- Patterns of thought : textiles and systems of belief in North and West Africa -- Textiles and communication -- Through the lens : textiles, art and photography in Africa.