Although this study looks at African print fabric as a generic object in terms of its design make-up, it acknowledges its many different manifestations that have their roots in the history of global textile trade. The following paragraphs are only able to broach the surface of a complex network of cross cultural encounters that over time have contributed to the emergence of these fabrics in African societies.
One aspect of this fascinating history is based on cloth that was originally produced in Indonesia and was brought to Europe during the time of the East India Companies. In Holland, a Dutch printing manufacturer established an industrial wax resist dye process in the late 19th century that allowed for a much speedier production of the originally hand printed textiles. Intending to establish a commercial export market the Dutch tried to sell these imitations back to Indonesia but the printing technique had created an unforeseen error: where the dye had seeped into folds in the wax it resulted in a crackling effect on the print pattern. Unfit for sale in Indonesia, the Dutch took the fabrics to a West African market instead where they were perceived as highly desirable (Sylvanus in Tranberg Hansen, 2013: 32). Other European manufacturers based in England and France soon followed suit to compete in the market and today the crackling effect is often intentionally mimicked even in production techniques that would not normally achieve this result (Exhibition catalogue: ‘Yoruba Printed Cottons and the European Collection, 1983:10). Commonly known as wax print cloths, the luxury market for those fabrics today is almost exclusively represented by the Dutch textile manufacturer Vlisco who caters primarily to a West African clientèle. However, there are now many imitation prints produced in various parts of the world with China rapidly taking over the biggest part of the market share (Uqalo Research, 2015).
Many of these ‘West African’ designs are traded across the continent where they have fused with similar cloths in other parts of Africa that have emerged from various historic encounters. Pedro Machado connects the history of certain textiles in East Africa and South East Africa to a direct trading link with Gujarat in India dating back to the early 18th century:‘Over the course of the eighteenth century (if not earlier), weavers in Jambusar and cloth consumers in east central and south-east Africa were brought into a transoceanic relational dynamic defined by the logistics of taste and fashion….African demand was critical in sustaining high levels of weaver production in India.’ (Machado in Riello, 2009:170). Although these sources deal with woven cloth rather than print fabrics, I discovered that some of the importers of print fabrics in Mozambique still get their cloths from Gujarat today. Indian indigo dyed cloths were known to be traded along the coast of east Africa at least since the 13th century (Spring, 2012:101) and were replicated in England, the Netherlands and Switzerland from the late nineteenth century as was the protuguese lenço, a printed handkerchief that was brought to Africa from Portugal in the sixteen hundreds. Kangas of Kenya and Tanzania are said to have their origins in the stitching together of these handkerchiefs to form a larger piece of cloth that could be worn as a body wrap (Exhibition: ‘African Social Fabric’, 2016). In Mozambique they are still sold as lenço where they are often designed to complement the use of a Capulana (Mozambican print fabric) as a headpiece.
This brief overview is meant to demonstrate the complexity of the origins of print fabric and how these have contributed to their specific local designs. It is also meant to provide an entry into questions about authenticity and cultural ownership based on the fact that some of the companies who enjoy a historic status in the production and export of print fabrics to Africa have made authenticity their hallmark. The history of a product that has traversed so many cultural barriers before becoming ‘African’ shows only too clear the irony of such claims.
Questions of authenticity
Authentic culture is here understood as the production of cultural values that are constructed through local human-material encounters, a coalescence that does not subject itself to the boundaries of a brand or corporate identity…continue reading
A brief history
Although this study looks at African print fabric as a generic object in terms of its design make-up, it acknowledges its many different manifestations that have their roots in the history of global textile trade. The following paragraphs are only able to broach the surface of a complex network of cross cultural encounters that over time have contributed to the emergence of these fabrics in African societies.
One aspect of this fascinating history is based on cloth that was originally produced in Indonesia and was brought to Europe during the time of the East India Companies. In Holland, a Dutch printing manufacturer established an industrial wax resist dye process in the late 19th century that allowed for a much speedier production of the originally hand printed textiles. Intending to establish a commercial export market the Dutch tried to sell these imitations back to Indonesia but the printing technique had created an unforeseen error: where the dye had seeped into folds in the wax it resulted in a crackling effect on the print pattern. Unfit for sale in Indonesia, the Dutch took the fabrics to a West African market instead where they were perceived as highly desirable (Sylvanus in Tranberg Hansen, 2013: 32). Other European manufacturers based in England and France soon followed suit to compete in the market and today the crackling effect is often intentionally mimicked even in production techniques that would not normally achieve this result (Exhibition catalogue: ‘Yoruba Printed Cottons and the European Collection, 1983:10). Commonly known as wax print cloths, the luxury market for those fabrics today is almost exclusively represented by the Dutch textile manufacturer Vlisco who caters primarily to a West African clientèle. However, there are now many imitation prints produced in various parts of the world with China rapidly taking over the biggest part of the market share (Uqalo Research, 2015).
Many of these ‘West African’ designs are traded across the continent where they have fused with similar cloths in other parts of Africa that have emerged from various historic encounters. Pedro Machado connects the history of certain textiles in East Africa and South East Africa to a direct trading link with Gujarat in India dating back to the early 18th century: ‘Over the course of the eighteenth century (if not earlier), weavers in Jambusar and cloth consumers in east central and south-east Africa were brought into a transoceanic relational dynamic defined by the logistics of taste and fashion….African demand was critical in sustaining high levels of weaver production in India.’ (Machado in Riello, 2009:170). Although these sources deal with woven cloth rather than print fabrics, I discovered that some of the importers of print fabrics in Mozambique still get their cloths from Gujarat today. Indian indigo dyed cloths were known to be traded along the coast of east Africa at least since the 13th century (Spring, 2012:101) and were replicated in England, the Netherlands and Switzerland from the late nineteenth century as was the protuguese lenço, a printed handkerchief that was brought to Africa from Portugal in the sixteen hundreds. Kangas of Kenya and Tanzania are said to have their origins in the stitching together of these handkerchiefs to form a larger piece of cloth that could be worn as a body wrap (Exhibition: ‘African Social Fabric’, 2016). In Mozambique they are still sold as lenço where they are often designed to complement the use of a Capulana (Mozambican print fabric) as a headpiece.
This brief overview is meant to demonstrate the complexity of the origins of print fabric and how these have contributed to their specific local designs. It is also meant to provide an entry into questions about authenticity and cultural ownership based on the fact that some of the companies who enjoy a historic status in the production and export of print fabrics to Africa have made authenticity their hallmark. The history of a product that has traversed so many cultural barriers before becoming ‘African’ shows only too clear the irony of such claims.
Questions of authenticity
Authentic culture is here understood as the production of cultural values that are constructed through local human-material encounters, a coalescence that does not subject itself to the boundaries of a brand or corporate identity…continue reading