A Kuba Cut-Pile Embroidery Fabric

Raphia plush fabric Cuba, DR Congo Ohne Sockel / without base Raphia. W 59 cm. L 68 cm. Provenance: Galerie Walu, Zurich. The Kingdom of Cuba is a confederation that ruled autonomously as a political federation from the 17th to the end of the 19th century, until it lost autonomy under the pressure of Belgian colonial rule. The name Cuba comes from the Bantu language, where it means "throwing knife". The Kuba tribal complex, which numbers about 250,000 people, includes the Bushoong, Kete, Tetela, Ngeende, Lele, Binji and Shoowa, among others. All of these ethnic groups have a special fondness for geometric shapes and therefore like to decorate many objects, both from daily use and rituals, over and over with the finest patterns. However, the Cuba gained fame mainly for their masterful, widely sought-after fabrics. Such fine fabrics, which served as a means of payment in the kingdom, were already mentioned in Portuguese reports from the 16th and 17th centuries. What was meant were fabrics measuring about 50 x 50 cm made of fringed leaflets of the raffia palm. They are woven by men and embroidered by women using the special technique of velour embroidery. In this process, the threads are fitted unknotted between the warp and weft threads with the help of a needle and then cut off at a height of about two millimeters on both sides. The raffia fibers are dyed with vegetable dyes before embroidery. The coastal population engaged in a lively trade with these woven mats: the Portuguese paid for the fabrics with salt, cowries and pearls and exchanged them for slaves further south, in Angola. Subsequently, because of their value, the mats were used locally as a medium of exchange, and even today they are indispensable host gifts on all occasions, such as weddings, births and anniversaries. The amount of work invested in the production of the mats represents a tamper-proof value. In this way, the hosts sometimes obtain a small fortune, which they can later sell again as needed. If someone needs one or more mats for a celebration (depending on their own wealth), if they don't have any themselves and can't make any, they will have to exchange them with someone for money, goods or services. Design, execution as well as supply and demand then result in the individually negotiated "exchange rate". Nowhere else in Africa have textiles been so masterfully crafted, displaying such an impressive, distinct sense of form and pattern. Aesthetics and function thus merge into small works of art whose influence on modern art in the West is unmistakable and is revealed, for example, in works by Paul Klee, Antoni Tàpies, Keith Haring and others. The artful works are so fascinating, dreamlike, and sensual that anyone who has had the opportunity to see them in the flesh will always remember them. Further reading: Meurant, Georges (1989). Dream Signs. Munich: Fred Jahn Publishers CHF 50 / 100 EUR 50 / 100