A Tapestry of Threads: Africa’s Diverse Hand-Weaving Traditions

While the renowned Kente cloth of Ghana and Aso Oke of Nigeria are iconic, Africa’s weaving heritage is a continent-wide tapestry of profound depth and variety. Here are key traditions from West, East, and Central Africa.

West Africa: The Cradle of Strip-Weaving

The strip-loom, a portable horizontal loom producing narrow bands of cloth later sewn together, is a foundational West African technology.

· Mali – The Legacy of the Tellem & Dogon: In the Bandiagara Escarpment, archaeological finds of Tellem textiles (11th-15th centuries) are among the oldest surviving woven fabrics in sub-Saharan Africa. These indigo-dyed cotton strips, some with complex weft patterns, demonstrate an advanced and ancient weaving culture. The techniques and symbolism were absorbed and continued by the Dogon people, for whom weaving is a highly respected, secret-laden craft integral to social and spiritual life.
· Burkina Faso – Kassena-Nankani Filtration Cloth: In the south, the Kassena and Nankani peoples weave a unique, open-work cotton cloth on a double-heddle loom. Its primary traditional use was as a filter for brewing local beer (dolo), but its elegant geometric patterns have made it a valued textile for ceremonial attire and contemporary fashion.
· Niger & Northern Nigeria – The Hausa Fata: Renowned for their mastery, Hausa weavers in centers like Kano and Dogondoutchi produce the Fata or Furɗa—a thick, densely woven cotton cloth often with metallic supplementary weft patterns. Used for prestigious gowns (riga), these textiles are symbols of wealth, status, and Islamic influence in the Sahel.

East Africa: The Elegance of Shemma and Sampler Weaves

· Ethiopia – The Sacred Shemma: Ethiopian highland weaving, dominated by the Amhara and Tigray peoples, produces Shemma—handspun cotton cloth, often with colorful, intricately woven borders (tibeb). Worn as the traditional shawl-and-wrap garment, its quality and fineness of the weave indicate social standing. Most significant is its use as the sacral cloth of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, where it drapes tabots (altars) and priests, making weaving a spiritually connected craft.

Central & Southern Africa: The Art of Prestige Textiles

· Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – Kuba Raffia Cloth: The Kuba Kingdom’s textile art is unparalleled. Using raffia palm fiber, men weave a plain cloth base, which women then transform through a unique process of dyeing, appliqué, and most famously, embroidery to create geometric and figurative designs. Each cut-pile (Kasai velour) or appliquéd motif has meaning, recording history and philosophy. These are royal and ceremonial textiles, not everyday clothing.
· Madagascar – Lamba Hoany: While geographically an island, Madagascar’s culture is a blend of Southeast Asian and East African influences. The Merina people produce the Lamba Hoany, a sumptuous burial shawl woven of wild silk or fine cotton, often with intricate geometric and symbolic patterns (the vakana). It represents ancestral connection and social prestige, wrapping the deceased as they join the forebears.

Key Distinctions & Commonalities

· Gender Roles: Often (but not universally), men are the weavers on the strip or double-heddle looms in West Africa, while women dominate the embroidery (Kuba) or spinning and finishing processes.
· Material: Predominantly local cotton, but also raffia (Central Africa), wild silk (Madagascar), and historically, bark cloth in some regions.
· Function: These textiles are seldom mere commodities. They are integral to rites of passage, religious practice, royal regalia, and social identity, encoding history and values in their patterns.