Social Fabric: African Textiles at RAMM

A British Museum touring exhibition at Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum takes a close look at contemporary African textiles.

Social Fabric: African Textiles Today explores the history, manufacture and social significance of African printed and factory-woven textiles. The designs mirror the convergence of African tastes and patronage with strong historical and contemporary trading ties from across the globe. These textiles have also influenced some of the region’s foremost contemporary artists and photographers.

The exhibition includes examples from eastern and southern Africa including kanga from Kenya and Tanzania, capulana from Mozambique, and shweshwe from southern Africa. These cloths have the ability to mirror changing times, fashions and tastes. They provide a detailed chronology of the social, political, religious, emotional and sexual concerns of the (mainly) women who wear them. Their patterns and inscriptions vary according to the age of the wearer and the context in which the cloth is worn. Their unspoken language may also be used to suggest thoughts and feelings which cannot be spoken. They are worn in secular and sacred contexts and play a central role in all of the major rite-of-passage ceremonies in women’s and, in some cases, men’s lives.

On Wednesday 22 July from 1 to 2pm, British Museum curator Dr Chris Spring will be giving a free lunchtime talk about the history and significance of the distinctive factory-woven and printed textile traditions of eastern and southern Africa, the patterns of global trade they reveal and the ways in which they have influenced some of the region’s foremost contemporary artists and photographers. Tickets for the talk, Kanga, Capulana and Shweshe: textiles of eastern and southern Africa, can be obtained online, by phone or at RAMM’s Garden reception.

The exhibition runs until 6 September 2015.

Social Fabric: African Textiles Today is a British Museum touring exhibition supplemented with extra material from RAMM’s collections.