Ceremonial Skirt

<p>Individually worked panels were sewn together to create this expansive skirt embellished with a kinetic array of patterns. The central floating motifs add lightness, especially when contrasted with the black-and-white checkerboard edge. Kuba men are responsible for preparing and weaving raffia, while Kuba women cut the appliqúe shapes freehand to decorate the cloth. To make a skirt of this size, several women from the same extended family would construct different sections.</p> <p>The abstract forms may represent stylized humans, animals, plants, and objects. Constituting a kind of encrypted script, the repeating motifs—including circles, lozenges, and L-shapes—function as building blocks for the entire design. The comma-like shape that appears across parts of the skirt is called ishina'mbua, which translates as &quot;dog's tail&quot;—a symbolic reference to the animal's keen sense of smell and vision as well as the spiritual qualities that the Kuba associate with the animal.</p>