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Raffia cloth
Kuba
20th century, 1950–2000
Object Place: Demoractic Republic of the Congo
Medium/Technique
Raffia fiber, pigment
Dimensions
Overall: 69 x 483 cm (27 3/16 x 190 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart
Accession Number2009.2739
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsContemporary Art, Africa and Oceania, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsTextiles
The Kuba peoples' delight in two-dimensional design ranged from the adornment of the human body in the form of scarification, to elaborately decorated wooden boxes, to geometric patterns in raffia cloth, created jointly by men and women. Scholars have described one of the principles of Kuba aesthetics as horror vacui-the reluctance of artists to leave empty spaces.
Provenance1980s, acquired in Cambridge, MA by Geneviève McMillan (b. 1922 - d. 2008), Cambridge; 2008, to the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation, Cambridge; 2009, gift of the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 17, 2009)