A Kuba Woven Fabric, Overskirt, "mapel"

Wrap robe, "mapel" Cuba-Ngongo, DR Congo Ohne Sockel / without base Raphia. W 80 cm. L 582 cm. Provenance: Gérald Minkoff (1937-2009) and Muriel Olesen (1948-2020), Geneva. Described by Gérald Minkoff on an inventory note as follows: "Mapel elamba des Ngongo (Cuba). Ex Zaïre Rép. Dém. du Congo. Vêtement de dignitaire villageois. Avec 2 bandes de 10 cm. de large. Technique de dessin par réserve (elamba). 2 bordures de avec pompons de raphia et motifs de carrés alternés bleus et blancs, cousus par replis intérieurs bord à bord. Les replis marquent la face visible de mapel, ainsi la bordure supérieure est repliée sur la ceinture et la cache contre la partie rouge mettant ainsi à la vue les coutures du damier. ----------------------------------------------------- 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 its autonomy under the pressure of Belgian colonial rule. The name Kuba comes from the Bantu language and means "throwing knife". The Kuba tribal complex, which numbers around 250,000 people, includes the Bushoong, Kete, Tetela, Ngeende, Lele, Binji and Shoowa. All of these ethnic groups have a special fondness for geometric shapes and therefore like to decorate many objects, both for everyday use and for rituals, with the finest patterns all over. However, the Kuba became famous above all for their masterful, highly 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. These were fabrics measuring around 50 x 50 cm made from frayed pinnate leaves of the raphia palm. They are woven by men and embroidered by women using the special technique of velour embroidery. The threads are fitted between the warp and weft threads without knotting using a needle and then cut at a height of around two millimeters on both sides. The raffia fibers are dyed with vegetable dyes before embroidering. The coastal population engaged in a lively trade with these woven mats: the Portuguese paid for the fabrics with salt, cowries and pearls and traded them for slaves further south, in Angola. Subsequently, the mats were used locally as a means of exchange due to their value and even today they are indispensable gifts for guests on all occasions, such as weddings, births and anniversaries. The labor invested in the production of the mats represents a forgery-proof value. The hosts sometimes receive a small fortune that they can later sell again as required. If someone needs one or more mats for a celebration (depending on their own wealth), if they do not have any themselves and cannot produce any, they will have to exchange them 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, showing such an impressive, distinctive sense of form and pattern. Aesthetics and function thus merge into small works of art whose influence on modern Western art is unmistakable and can be seen in works by Paul Klee, Antoni Tàpies, Keith Haring and others. The artistic works are so fascinating, dreamlike and sensual that anyone who has seen them in the flesh will always remember them. Further reading: Meurant, Georges (1989). Dream Signs. Munich: Verlag Fred Jahn. ----------------------------------------------------- Gérald Minkoff and Muriel Olesen Muriel Minkoff-Olesen (1948- 2020) completed her training at the School of Design in Geneva. Gérald Minkoff (1937-2009) was a trained anthropologist and biologist. Both achieved fame as artists and from the moment they met in 1967, the emblematic couple of contemporary art were inseparable. The travel-loving Olesen-Minkoff duo explored life like curious nomads, roaming the globe from Africa to Asia, Oceania, America and Patagonia. As artists and experienced collectors of contemporary art, they understandably had a keen sensitivity to the aesthetics and concepts of non-European art. The couple's Geneva apartment, perhaps their most beautiful joint work, thus became a place where the works of close friends such as Daniel Spoerri, Arman and Man Ray, as well as their own photographs, lived together with almost a thousand objects from Africa, Oceania, Asia and South America. CHF 1 000 / 2 000 Condition: The condition (wear, eventual cracks, tear, other imperfections and the effects of aging etc. if applicable) of th