The Kanga an African Cloth

The Kanga an African cloth

PHYLLIS RESSLER

LARA RESSLER HORST

Copyright © 2019 Phyllis Ressler, Lara Ressler Horst

Photographs: Vlisco Archives,Howard Zehr, Kim Retka, Pat Augsburger, Jan Driessens Design: Phyllis Ressler ISBN: 9781698539010 Printed in the USA

Kanga Khanga Leso Lenço Lamba Kisutu Cuka Garase Suka Chitenge Slendang Ekarasha

Acknowledgments We wish to thank the many people who have contributed to our understanding of the kanga—especially those who have shared their family stories with us, recounting traditions and memories of kanga use. We would like to thank the librarians and booksellers who helped us locate old documents and the merchants who showed us sketches and design books. Special thanks are extended to the Dutch textile company Vlisco, for opening their archives for research.

Working with the research team from the National Museums of Kenya’s Department of Cultural Heritage has been a great privilege. Many thanks to Professor Peter Wasamba, of the University of Nairobi, for helping to define the research design, and to Professor Tom Olali, also of University of Nairobi, for translating the kanga sayings used in this book. Many thanks to Roshni Shah and Madhukant P. Shah of Haria’s Stamp Shop Ltd. in Nairobi, who shared their years of experience and love of the kanga. Also, thanks to Philipa Njau and Elimani Njau of Paa Ya Paa Arts Centre, Nairobi, for graciously allowing us to use their photos.

We extend a special note of appreciation to Webster University, particularly the faculty and administrative staff in Geneva, Switzerland; to the Royal Dutch Embassy and the Embassy of Switzerland in Nairobi, who supported exhibitions of the kanga in Kenya; to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Geneva; to Nathan Horst, who supported the documentation of many kanga stories; to the KonTerra Group Consultants, for their support; and to Rudd Sanders and Jan Driessens of the Vlisco Archives in Helmond the Netherlands, who provided archival information and photographic documentation in the kindest and most helpful way. We also thank Pat Augsburger, Kim Retka, and Howard Zehr for their photographic documentation of many of the kangas in this book.

Finally, many thanks to our colleagues and friends, and special appreciation to Anna Ressler and Edouard Belloncle, and to our husbands Everett Ressler and Nathan Horst, for all of their support.

“A large collection of kangas is a savings account for a woman.

She may buy a new pair every month.

If a young woman inherits kangas from her grandmother, she regards these as a treasure.”

—a young Kenyan woman

Reflections on studying the kanga.....

Anthropology encourages us to take part in a conversation about simple things and what they show us about ourselves in the wider world.

The colorful kanga cloth found across East Africa is mesmerizing - a cloth that nearly every woman and some men use and prize. Where did it come from? Who uses it, and why? How is it produced and where do the designs come from? What is the meaning of the proverbs and sayings that are on each kanga?

What does it take to see, the everyday, the common, the normal; to ask why people do what they do; to continue the human search for meaning. Anthropology is the study of what people do and why they do it. It is a distinct approach to the study of human behavior. In this book, as anthropologists, we chose to search for understanding through the study of a cloth. We explored the ascribed value given to this cloth and the cultural co-production of design and meaning.

The kanga a simple printed cotton cloth, has existed on the coast of East Africa for more than 120 years. While it is a cloth used and treasured by millions it has been largely unrecognized in the academic study of textiles. This limited viewpoint changes significantly when the cloth is viewed with more introspection. It quickly begins to take on a life of its own.... studying the kanga revealed insights into culture; how we create identity, and how we assign meaning to the material things we use.

The kanga is a particularly interesting study because of its wide use and high cultural value. Virtually every woman in East Africa has, uses, and treasures her kangas. While each kanga is uniquely valued, hundreds upon hundreds of different kanga designs have been produced. It remains a simple, relatively inexpensive cloth with many uses. The kanga

holds value for each person, community, and ethnic group, that uniquely uses and values it. At times it carries religious signifance. At its orgins it supported Islamic religious values and later separated enslaved women from free women. In more recent days it symbolized membership in a group or followers of a political canidate. The kanga reflects cultural values and behavors.

The early peoples, cultures, and civilizations of Africa did not exist in a vacuum. The historical movement and exchange of ideas that occurred through the trade routes which crisscrossed the continent and the region, helped to shape the design and use of the kanga. The specific designs printed in the borders of kanga cloths reveal wide cultural exposure with elements from Persia, West Africa, Indonesia, India, Europe, and many other places. Exploring the iconography of the kanga also reveals historical and economic connections throughout the Indian Ocean region and beyond and as with many cultural/ commercial items, the kanga emerged and then re-emerged in many places.

The study of co-production reveals influences that come through cultural exchange. In the instance of the kanga, trade on the East African coast, largely in and around Zanzibar in the mid-1800’s, facilitated the exchange of ideas, and designs. Unlike many traditional cloths, from other places, which have become representations of a specific culture, the kanga remains a dynamic part of many cultures as it was spread widely into Asia, Europe, and across Africa. Collections of information about history, politics, economics, and culture of the Indian Ocean region is understood in a new way when viewed through the world of the kanga.

Introduction The kanga, also called the leso,1 is a machine-printed textile historically associated with Kenya and Tanzania. Today, kangas are worn in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa2 and some regions of the Middle East.3 The cloth can be identified by its distinctive border and central design or motif, and is approximately forty-five by sixty-five inches in size.

Typically, a line of text (often a proverb or saying) is printed along the border. The earliest kangas were printed in two colors, initially black and white. Over one hundred years ago, women in the coastal regions of East Africa named this distinctive new textile “kanga”4 after the common black-and-white guinea fowl, or kanga bird in Kiswahili,5 the language of the region. One feature of most kangas is a small dot, which is similar to the pattern found on the guinea fowl.

INTRODUCTION

The kanga is a distinctive cloth with origins in East Africa more than 120 years ago.

Since kangas were first produced in the mid-1880s, millions of people across East and

Central Africa have treasured these textiles for their designs, meanings, and affordability.

Use and meaning of the kanga is defined by both culture and context. Although primarily a woman’s textile, it may be worn by children and men. In each context, the kanga is valued for the message it sends and its link to innumerable life stories and events.6 The kanga has not been systematically documented, in part because research and documentation of African cloth has tended to focus on hand-woven textiles—particularly those of West African origin. It is hoped that this book will begin to address this gap, catalogue historical and modern kangas, and connect the history of the kanga with the history of trade in the Indian Ocean and throughout Africa.

1

History: Trade and the Emergence of the Kanga The kanga is an integral part of the story of vibrant cultural exchange that occurred along ancient Indian Ocean trade routes. The unique pattern of monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean8 shaped trade over two millennia. While there is some evidence of trade on the East African coast early in the Common Era, the period from CE 800 to 1498 was marked by the southward migration of Muslim settlers from the Middle East and the development of the Swahili culture. During this period, the eastern coast of Africa was integrated into global trade routes—dominated at the time by the Indian Ocean powers and extending throughout East Asia.

Peoples living on what eventually became known as the Swahili Coast9 participated in trade relationships with those living in the interior regions of East and Central Africa and became wealthy through the export of goods such as tortoise shells, leopard skins, ivory, and slaves. The wealth of the region during this period was also due to the gold trade10 controlled from the island city-state of Kilwa.11 Luxury goods, including textiles, were imported from throughout the Indian Ocean region and used mainly on the coast.12 In the fifteenth century, European powers seeking to control the spice trade began searching for alternative routes to the fabled Spice Islands of the east. The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reached the coast of East Africa in 1498 and began two centuries of Portuguese domination in the region. During this period, the Portuguese took control of trade—exporting textiles (most frequently the leso)13 produced in Portugal for sale on the Swahili Coast. In the early eighteenth century, Oman expelled the Portuguese and consolidated control of the region renewing the link between the Swahili Coast and the larger Indian Ocean trade network.

2

HISTORY

Studying the kanga reconfirms the role of East Africa in a dynamic Indian Ocean exchange from the 1400s until today, highlighting creative cultural production that took place through trade routes and relationships.

Omani sultan Sayyid Said shifted his palace from Muscat to the island of Zanzibar in the 1830s, renewing the link between the Swahili Coast and the larger Indian Ocean sphere.

The wealth of the Omani empire in Africa was based largely on slave-dependent clove production and played a role in the expansion of the age-old slave trade. In this period, the demand for slaves from the east and central African interior increased—some enslaved persons were used in clove plantations on the coast; others were exported to the Arab world and the French sugar-plantation islands of Mauritius and Bourbon.14 Kilwa and Zanzibar became centers of the slave trade and acted as transit points for enslaved persons brought from the interior.

3

Trading in Merikani cotton cloth on the East African coast. Merikani was a cotton cloth produced in America. Circa 1900, East Africa.

Photo: Seth Smith

HISTORY

As demand for slaves and ivory increased, Zanzibari traders expanded ancient trade routes into the interior and established trade centers along those routes. Trading towns such as Tabora in central Tanzania and Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika developed into inland ports and increased the cultural exchange between people from the coast and people from the interior, while at the same time destroying traditional communities and social structures in East and Central Africa.15 Textiles, frequently kangas, were used as a medium of trade in this era. They were bartered for slaves, transport, passage, or essential supplies. After 1865, the cost of cotton dropped16 and cotton textiles became increasingly available throughout the region. Cotton began to replace bark cloth, grass skirts, skins, and traditional body coverings in many places throughout East and Central Africa. However, documentation on textile use in the interior regions of East and Central Africa is limited and we are forced to rely on a few descriptions provided by European explorers and travelers to Africa in the late 1800s. Trade logs and design books from Dutch textile producer Vlisco clearly show reference to kangas in the late 1800s. It is not until the 1900s that more frequent references to the kanga begin to appear in literature.

Smithsonian, 2016

5

A painting of the wives and companions of slave traders who crossed the continent from east to west with Henry Morton Stanley. Painted in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1877, on their return journey to Zanzibar. In the painting, the women appear to be wearing kangas.

Simpson, D. (1975) Dark Companions: The African Contribution to the European Exploration of East Africa.

London Paul Elek. Royal Geographic Society.

The painting above shows the women who accompanied Stanley's second expedition across Africa. They returned on a ship that stopped in Simon's Town, South Africa, and were treated to tours of Cape Town and Stellenbosch by the dean of Cape Town and other leading residents. They were showered with gifts, which may have included printed cloth. During the late 1880s, on Stanley’s third trip, Manyema women from Central Africa were part of the trade group that again circumvented the Cape of Good Hope, this time traveling from Zanzibar to the mouth of the Congo River and across the interior to reach Stanleyville (1887).

6

HISTORY

A modern example of the colored cotton squares fashionable women on the Swahili Coast were wearing in the mid -1860s .They sewed together printed cloth squares into lengths of cloth they wrapped around themselves.

This cloth was the forerunner of the kanga and was called leso, a name still in use on the Swahili coast.

In the 1860s, brightly colored handkerchief squares (lesos)20 were readily available, and origin stories about the kanga suggest that Zanzibari women sewed these handkerchief squares together to form larger blocks of colored fabric.21 These were worn with one length wound tightly around the body, and another covering the shoulders or head.22 The photograph on the opposite page shows cloth made of leso squares sewn together or printed into lengths of cloth worn by the women in Stanley’s group.

Travelers to the East African coast in the nineteenth century frequently remark on the importance of dress in Swahili culture.17 In the fashion-conscious culture of the Swahili Coast, colored cloth was both highly valued and expensive, so most people wore merikani, an unbleached American18 cloth, or kaniki, a grey cloth imported from India. Women seeking to improve the kaniki stained it with locally produced indigo.19

7

Design books from the Vlisco Archives, the Netherlands, showing orders between producers in European countries and Zanzibar. Vlisco Archives, 1884,1886.

Merchants on the East African coast quickly picked up on the popularity of this new cloth which women were creating and wearing, and began producing block-printed versions.23 These cloths were first printed with vegetable dyes to create the simple black-and-white patterns found on some of the earliest kangas. In response to the growing demand for kangas, merchants began sending orders to the European textile companies, where larger quantities could be produced more cheaply. As demand increased, European textile producers from the Netherlands, England, Germany, and Switzerland supplied kangas to the coast.24

8

HISTORY

Early kangas were largely produced by European and Indian textile companies—for example, Vlisco in the Netherlands,31 ABC Textiles in the UK, and at times Germany and Switzerland, as well as companies in Goa and Ahmedabad, India. Kenya and Tanzania began to produce kangas in the 1800s. The Kenyan government nationalized textile companies in the1990s, but weak management reportedly prevented the success of the Kenyan kanga industry—though some Kenyan factories continue to sporadically produce kangas. Tanzania has a strong textile industry that produces kangas using Tanzanian cotton.

Early kangas were block printed. In the late 1800s, Vlisco employed as many as eight hundred block printers and designers to meet the demand on the East African coast. Colors and designs were often selected by traders in East African towns and villages.The text messages, originally printed in Arabic and later in Swahili, were hand copied by the designers at the Dutch company Vlisco from kanga designs that had sold well. As they did not read or understand the languages used in the text, the words were at times misspelled or printed upside down. The women who were purchasing the cloth were very concerned about the text, the colors, and the designs. They made their voices heard through their purchasing power, and specific designs thus became popular.

Hand-cut wooden blocks used by Vlisco printers in the late 1800s to hand print kangas for the East African market.

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Women turned Zanzibar into the “Paris of East Africa.” The kanga appears to have become a highly desired item of fashion at the time of the abolition of the slave trade in Zanzibar, when Indian merchants successfully marketed the kanga to a newly emerging clientele of former slaves. As free women and men, they were able to purchase items that could help them claim a new identity.

10

HISTORY

Enslaved peoples were freed in Zanzibar in 1897. At times, newly freed women identified themselves and their free status by wearing the fashionable, colorfully printed kanga.27 For formerly enslaved women in the urban areas of Zanzibar, use of the kanga separated them from poorer rural women, who continued to wear the dark-blue or brown kaniki.

The use of the kanga spread through the interior and south along the East African coast.28 Wearing the kanga, or “coast dress,” became an indication of elite status and participation in emerging social structures.29 While literature on the meaning and use of the kanga in nineteenth-century Swahili culture highlights the role it played in portraying social status and upward mobility, less work has focused on these same issues in the east and central African interior. Despite this, it is clear that the kanga played a significant role in fashion, dress, and communication throughout the early part of the century in these regions. For

11

Radegonde Nyramavuga, Queen Mother of Burundi.

Photo: Fabulous Congo, Felice Bellotti, Andrew Dakers,1954

example, written accounts from European travelers and photographic records from the early 1900s show people of high status in Central Africa wearing the kanga.30 Some researchers have suggested that the kanga designs came from the Manyema women who accompanied the slave traders across Central Africa and back to Zanzibar. They may have gotten some of their ideas from cloths that had come into the interior from West Africa. Books written by male travelers to the East African coast in the early 1900s mention

12

HISTORY

the colorful cloths of the women. One woman traveler, Jane F. Moir, who spent time in the trading town of Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika in 1890, writes in detail about the kanga-like cloths worn by the women she visited.

These stories are difficult to confirm, but various travel writings clearly identify colorful cloths worn on the east and west coasts of Africa at this time.

Can the origins of the kanga be traced to Zanzibari women and merchants who sent the cloth into the African interior with Stanley and the women who traveled with him, or was the kanga cloth picked up in the interior and brought back to Zanzibar by the fashionable Manyema women traveling with Stanley? Whatever the case, it seems clear that the kanga was largely created by women’s buying power, merchants’ production power, and the trade throughout Africa.

13

Cultural Exchange: Kanga Design Analysis of kanga design reveals both the extent to which the kanga has assimilated global design elements and the extent to which it has remained a quintessentially African cloth.33 For much of its history, kanga production has been located outside of Africa and the communities where it was worn. However, through control of the market—often by simply choosing whether or not to buy a particular pattern—African women have shaped the design34 of this cloth.35.

From the beginning, when kangas were handkerchiefs sewn together, the basic design has included a border and a central image. The basic composition of the kanga has remained the same for more than 120 years (border, central image, text). Several design elements have come to define the kanga: dots, circles, crosses, the boteh, fruit, and flowers.

14

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Kanga design is clearly influenced by many cultures. Influence has been drawn from elements within Africa, such as the traditional geometrical designs of African ceremonial items and body art.36 Kanga design also draws influence from parts of Asia, and Europe. For example, the Persian boteh37 found on most kangas is also seen in seventeenth-century floral designs from the Mughal Empire and in textile designs throughout South Asia and Europe.

An example of the boteh or cashew shape widely used on kangas.

The boteh, which is seen in the photo above, is known as the paisley in Europe, the mango shape in India, and the cashew nut shape in East Africa. Many people feel a kanga is not a true kanga without the boteh design. However, the kanga is also defined by reinvention; new patterns, colors, and images are continually introduced.

Kanga designs were originally sketched by merchants on the Swahili Coast and sent to European textile producers. The task of designing the kanga has remained a primarily commerce-driven process. The designs were rarely influenced directly by consumers and did not relate to the central image or the text. Designs and texts were selected by merchants on the East African coast and sent to printers in India or Europe to be placed on the kanga. However, Dutch designers at Vlisco a kanga producer from the1800s until the1950s regularly selected text they could not read and placed it on the kanga for printing.

15

One of the earliest kanga designs, and one that has remained popular until today, is the kisutu.39 This kanga has a sari-like design, with a wide border on the ends and a pattern of small crosses and flowers in the central panel. This kisutu is unique in that it does not include text or a central image. Usually printed in red and black, the kisutu is often used for weddings in coastal Kenya, as the colors are associated with the rituals.

Many stories are told about the distinctive patterns and colors of the kisutu. One event recounted by women in Zanzibar and Mombasa suggests that a man was stabbed by his wife for the crime of failing to purchase the newest kanga for her. The kanga pattern she was wearing became known as kisutu, derived from kisu (knife in Kiswahili). A second story suggests the design karatini, or cross, on this kanga was copied from Red Cross vans in use during yellow fever epidemics that ravaged Zanzibar in the early 1900s 40

16

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Early kisutu, block printed, dated 1890 from the Vlisco Archives.

Early kangas were hand printed in black and white, and at times red. Carved wooden blocks were used. It is easy to see the slight imperfections where the block was hand stamped.The bottom sample is dated 1901 and is from Vlisco Archives design books.

Vlisco Archives, 1901

17

A common pattern found on many kangas is a series of tiny circles that mirror Rajasthani tie-dye designs,called bandhani..38 This traditional design, created with a tie-dye technique, is still used today on Indian saris and modern kangas.

18

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

A unique style of horizontal stripes was often found on Omani cloth that was exported to Zanzibar in the late 1800s. This striped pattern is sometimes used as a central image in the design of the kanga, as seen below. Vilsco Archives,1925.

19

Kangas have incorporated many African colors and designs, which are frequently geometrical patterns, as seen in the mud cloth sample. Mud cloth is a traditional cloth from Mali.

20

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Kangas often use patterns from nature, such as fruits, trees, flowers, and leaves. Many women prefer the colors blue and green, particularly in Tanzania. Indonesian batik also influenced early kanga design. Designers at Vlisco, one of the largest Dutch fabric-printing companies, printed batiks for the Indonesian market and kangas for the East African market during the same time period.

21

As recently as 2000, Kangas were drawn by hand on large sheets of paper in Mombasa and sent with specifications to India for printing. The design is now done by computer.Favorite kangas are copied or sent as samples with new color choices and new text.

Old sample books show records of fabric shipped to Zanzibar from Europe, as early as 1866. The examples on the right are from mid-1800s. The designs were done by hand, as shown above. These printed samples were kept as ideas for new kangas and are part of a collection in the Vilsco Archives in Helmond, the Netherlands.

22

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

23

Over the years, kangas have been used to carry political and social-advocacy images and messages. This well known kanga carries the text “People for Peace,” and has been used by many organizations since it was created in the 1980s.

24

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

The kanga above was produced on the first and second inauguration of Barack Obama.

The text says, “Love and peace come from God. Congratulations Barack Obama.”

Today, the kanga’s central image often reflects popular culture, historical events, or political messaging. For example, commemorative kangas were produced on the death of Michael Jackson, the inauguration of Barack Obama, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, and other national leaders. Kanga images have also been used to communicate public health messages, such as use of mosquito nets or HIV/AIDS awareness. At times, kangas have been used for advertising by political campaigns and by companies.

25

Text Messages Oral histories collected in Zanzibar recount how local merchants added text to the kanga in the 1880s, at times taking suggestions from women in the community.41 Text on early kangas was printed in Kiswahili with Arabic script.42 The British introduced Latin script for administrative use in the 1930s. After the 1950s, messages were printed almost entirely in Kiswahili using Latin script, and today it is rare to find a modern kanga featuring Arabic script. Kangas are also printed in Malagasy and Comorian, and at times in English. Many of the early sayings may have had roots in t aarab, a form of poetry and music that incorporates the diverse cultural influences found on the Swahili Coast. Taarab became popular in Zanzibar in the 1870s, and continues to be popular today.43

26

TEXT MESSAGES

Often witty, using wordplay or cynicism, early kanga messages were frequently subtly erotic or suggestive. For example, one early kanga featured the message, “A ripe mango has to be eaten slowly.” In the early colonial period, British authorities became aware of these erotic allusions and tried unsuccessfully to ban them. In the 1950s, women’s movements in Tanzania protested more successfully against the sexually suggestive text and all kanga text was removed for a brief period.

In many cases, the proverbial aspect of kanga text hides a deeper message that can only be understood by the right person in the right context. On the Swahili Coast, a culture developed around use of kanga messages for communication. Particularly among women, the kanga message became a widely recognized and refined communication tool. In this context, a kanga would be carefully selected in order to best represent the message a

wearer wanted to send. For example, a woman with a backstabbing neighbor might wear a kanga with the message, “A woman’s wickedness is in her tongue!” A rival in love might receive a kanga with the message, “Why are you clinging to him? He does not want you!

Leave him!” A woman with a cheating husband might wear a kanga bearing the message, “A visitor to two homes will surely die of hunger.” Kanga messages are not used for communication in the same way across all cultures in East and Central Africa, and women in many parts of the region may choose the kanga based on design or color rather than text—taking care to avoid possible misunderstandings. Women may choose to wear a kanga inside out or upside down in order to avoid offense that may be caused by the text.

Text has been used to address social issues. In the 1970s, polygamy was addressed in kanga text, and in the 1980s, the text messages frequently touched upon economic issues.44 Modern kanga texts are often in the form of religious maxims; (“Love and peace come from God”); proverbs, (“A country rooster does not crow in town”), or adages (“Do not stress yourself, problems will never end”). Text may also take the form of public service messages, such as, “Reduce the cost of mosquito nets for expectant mothers and children,” or used to mark historical events with a message such as “Congratulations Barack Obama.”

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The Kanga in Daily Life and in Ceremonies One of the most extraordinary attributes of the kanga is the intensely personal meaning it holds for the people that use it. The kanga remains a treasure of high social value in most places, despite being commercially produced with inexpensive materials. It is expected that a polite and respectable young woman will have a kanga in her bag at all times, and a mother or grandmother will often give a young women several pairs of kangas to take with her to university or to a new location. In some East and Central African cultures, men wear kangas at home or when relaxing. In others, like the Maasai culture, a man may wear a kanga outside the home. Kangas may be worn both inside and outside the home, or they may serve as slings for babies, or as shawls, turbans, blankets, table coverings, or room dividers. They may be given as gifts or used in ceremonies. Kangas are deeply personal items for women and may be tightly wrapped around a woman’s stomach after she gives birth, to help with uterine swelling, or used to cover clothing during menstruation. In urban areas of Kenya and Tanzania, modern women are less likely to wear kangas in public, though they often wear kangas when relaxing or working at home. In rural areas, many women still wear kangas in their day-to-day lives.

In Central Africa, a kanga may be worn if a woman is unable to afford the more expensive and popular wax prints called kitenge. Kitenges can be distinguished from kangas because they have a repeating pattern and no border. The kitenge is popular across most of Central and West Africa and was initially marketed to West Africa in the 1800s— originally as a copy of Javanese (Indonesian) prints.

28

THE KANGA IN DAILY LIFE AND IN CEREMONIES

In East Africa, a matching brightly colored pair of kangas is prized by young and old.

Women demanded that their husbands and boyfriends buy them a new kanga as often as possible. It is said that when merchants designed a kanga called the shokishoki a song from the time said, “If my man loves me, he will give me a shokishoki.” 26

29

Throughout East and Central Africa, new kangas are issued every two weeks. In some communities, women line up to purchase a new kanga. Kangas are the wealth of a woman and serve as a savings account, to be sold when cash is needed. Many women try to buy one new kanga per month. In the coastal culture, over the course of her life, a Swahili woman may collect more than one hundred pairs of kangas. In the photo above, women are waiting to purchase new kangas from the truck that delivers them every two weeks in the rural areas.

30

THE KANGA IN DAILY LIFE AND IN CEREMONIES

A Maasai man in the Rift Valley of Kenya, wearing a kanga as his daily dress.

Maasai women and men often chose white, red, and black kangas and wear several kangas on top of each other creating a colorful backdrop for beads and body designs.

Pastoralist communities favor kangas with specific designs and colors—for example, a kanga with a pattern similar to the designs on a favorite cow. Manufacturers print designs specifically for sale to these groups.

31

Following are descriptions from women and men who use the kanga in daily life. They illustrate the unique mranings and values ascribed to the kanga. Each cultural group, community, family, and individual values the kanga highly but may regard it differently.

Weddings Kangas are commonly given to a bride and to the other women in her family. Several dozen pairs of kangas will be given and are considered a part of the bride price. In some communities, a bride will not leave the house until enough kangas have been brought for her mother and aunts.

Kangas are used in prenuptial games to trick the groom. For example, the bride and her friends may be covered from head to toe in kangas, a challenge to the groom to find his bride.

In some communities, kangas are placed on the ground in front of the bride as she walks to the wedding ceremony. The groom is often expected to buy pairs of kangas for the bride’s friends to wear at the dowry meeting before the wedding. During the marriage ceremony, the bride and groom may wear kangas of the same color, symbolizing their unity and decision to stay happily married.

After the wedding, the couple may share the same kanga pair, as a man may only accept the gift of a kanga from a woman with whom he has, or intends to have, a sexual relationship.

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THE KANGA IN DAILY LIFE AND IN CEREMONIES

Maasai bride (center), groom (right), and friends wearing kangas.

33

Relationship At times, the kanga is used for intimate communication between husbands and wives.

A woman may place a scented kanga on her husband’s pillow, folded to indicate her mood.

Some women place a kanga on her husband’s pillow and wear a matching one to show that she is pleased with him, or a different kanga to show her displeasure. A woman will never wear the same kanga as a male guest staying in her house.45 A woman may show her love and affection for her husband by wearing the kanga he has recently taken off. A husband may bring home a pair of kangas for the same reasons a man might buy flowers for his wife. At times, scented kangas are given as a gift.46 A woman going through a divorce may bathe in a pair of kangas given to her by her husband’s family. She may choose to leave a pair of kangas for her ex-husband to wish him well.47 When visiting a friend in-country or internationally it is always proper to take a pair of kangas as a gift for the hostess.

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THE KANGA IN DAILY LIFE AND IN CEREMONIES

Birth A woman who has just given birth will be given a red-and-black kanga. A newborn baby is cleaned and wrapped in a new kanga that has been neither cut nor bound. This gift is understood to provide the child with strength and prosperity. When a woman is giving birth, particularly in rural settings, kangas can be used to cover her or as a room divider to provide privacy and protection.

It is appropriate to take a kanga as a gift when visiting a woman who has just given birth.

Both the midwife and the new mother should be given a kanga.

35

Ceremony The kanga is used for cleansing ceremonies—often to clean a newborn baby, wash a body at burial, or in a divorce. Kangas are used in circumcision ceremonies; the Maasai use them as flags and fly a flag for each boy being circumcised. In other communities, when guests visit a home, kangas may be placed on their bed as a sign of welcome.

Funerals When a Muslim woman dies, her body is washed and covered in six kangas. These kangas are considered blessings from those who offer them to the deceased. The corpse of a married man is wrapped using the kanga of his wife. If he was not married, the corpse is wrapped with a kanga from his mother. Among some groups, kangas play a role in special ceremonies to comfort women who have lost their husbands. In this ceremony, the male comforter will wear a kanga.48 36

THE KANGA IN DAILY LIFE AND IN CEREMONIES

Religious Belief The kanga plays a large role in religious belief and practice among various cultural groups.

It carries such importance that it is has been said the kanga only belongs to these groups.

In the past, particularly in Lamu on the Swahili coast, Muslim women created a small tentlike structure to cover themselves when leaving the house. This was called a shiraa, and at times was made of kangas. It played the same role as the buibui that became fashionable in Lamu after World War II.

37

Today, kangas are considered fashionable and can be used as a headpiece by young and old.

38

THE KANGA IN DAILY LIFE AND IN CEREMONIES

Kangas are worn as skirts, with the designs displayed in many different ways.

39

Kangas are at times worn as a two-piece dress and carry significant religious meaning for Muslim women.

40

THE KANGA IN DAILY LIFE AND IN CEREMONIES

Kangas are worn in a variety of ways by different cultures and different religions. They may provide complete coverings or be used as beachwear, but for each person the kanga carries significant meaning.

41

42

THE KANGA IN DAILY LIFE AND IN CEREMONIES

43

Social Messages Kangas often carry social or advocacy messages. This one says, “Reduce the cost for pregnant and expectant mothers.”

Politicians give kangas as gifts during campaigns. At times they carry messages in support of the politician.

In the early twentieth century, a Swahili woman from Mombasa organized a kanga boycott to protest an exploitative system designed by kanga merchants. In this system, women bought “tickets” to reserve the new kanga design, and if they could not afford to purchase the kanga when it arrived, they forfeited the money. The kanga boycott lasted more than a year and was successful in halting the sale of “tickets.”49 44

THE KANGA IN DAILY LIFE AND IN CEREMONIES

After the political violence following the Kenyan election in 2007–2008, a special green kanga with the cashew symbol was given to friends and neighbors to express hope and peace for the future. The text on this kanga says, “Kenya is OK now—Peace in every district.”

45

The Collection

Notes on Sources and Dates The kangas included in this book represent only a fraction of the thousands of designs printed in the last 120 years. They are presented here to provide a glimpse into the continually evolving story of the kanga.

The following collection includes both old and modern kangas. The older kangas are part of a larger collection preserved by the Dutch textile company Vlisco. Kangas were block printed at Vlisco in Helmond, the Netherlands, beginning in the mid-1800s, and were sold on the East African coast. The dates accompanying these kangas are based on the dates provided in the Vlisco archives. The modern kangas in the collection were acquired over a period of twenty years throughout East and Central Africa by the authors. Exact dates for these kangas are not available. Based on several factors (design, quality of fabric, and producer), these kangas are determined to be “modern,” i.e., produced after 1960. Where the design of a kanga has an identifiable date (e.g., a kanga produced to commemorate Barack Obama’s inauguration) or where there are descriptions of the design in colonial literature (e.g., the kisutu), the approximate design date has been included.

TRANSLATION OF THE TEXT MESSASES

Text on the kanga has been translated where possible. Translation of the Arabic text proved particularly difficult, and in some cases impossible. Confusion about the meaning of Arabic text may be due in part to dialectical differences. The difficulty of translation was increased because the original text was most often handwritten by traders, sent by ship to Europe, and rewritten for printing by non-Arabic speakers. This may have resulted in mistakes, making text undecipherable at times. Several kangas included in this collection are thought to be in the Malagasy language and have not been translated.

49

Kisutu Design c. 1880

Photo of an early kisutu Hand block printed

The designs in the kisutu are influenced by Persian and Indian blockprinted fabrics. The designs are from the seventeenth century or before. The use of black and red is seen in Persian designs.

In the early 1900s, these cloths were printed on a handwoven cloth called calico which was produced in the US and India and printed for the Indian Ocean markets, specifically India and Iran.

50

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives Design 1925

This design uses the spot, associated with the name kanga, which some say came from the guinea hen (kanga in Swahili). Its white dot on black feathers was seen as beautiful and, as the saying goes, “The women wearing the kanga cloth strutted like the hen in all their glory.”

Early kangas were printed in two colors, one usually being black.

51

Vlisco Archives 1910

52

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Kingeishi mahali saharami It is better to live in abject poverty than in corruption.

53

Vlisco Archives c. 1905

54

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

55

Vlisco Archives 1925

La waridi lanipoza moyo The rose soothes my heart.

The flower patterns on the edge of the kanga are called “biscuiti” in Swahili, as they resemble a small biscuit sold in markets until today.

56

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

57

Fungamano niya milele furaha ya kila siku Togetherness is a permanent thing, bliss is every day.

58

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives c. 1905

59

Vlisco Archives 1925

60

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

61

Vlisco Archives 1895

62

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

63

Vlisco Archives 1925

64

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

65

Vlisco Archives 1910

66

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

67

Vlisco Archives 1910

The cross is a pattern repeated on many kangas. Some say that its history is intertwined with the many epidemics that ravaged Zanzibar in the 1800s and into the early 1900s. The cross is taken from the Red Cross vans that were used in the city.

68

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives Design 1868

Maji yakiacha mwamba tutafutwao ni sisi When water leaves the reef, it is now looking for us.

69

Kisutu 2013 Design 1880

70

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

71

Vlisco Archives 1925

72

THE COLLECTION

Design c. 1900

Nifanye nini ujue

73

Vlisco Archives 1925

Fancy Free A rare use of English for this time period.

74

THE COLLECTION

2011

Kenya sasa ni poa, amani kila mkoa Kenya is OK now—Peace in every district.

This kanga was given to friends and neighbors after the postelection violence in January 2008.

The boteh or cashew nut shape is seen as a sign of prosperity, and was a wish for peace and well-being in the future.

75

Design 2013

Bandhani tie-dye A modern interpretation of bandani, an ancient Indian tie-dye method that has been used as a part of kanga design since the mid-1800s.

76

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives c. 1925

77

Vlisco Archives 1903

78

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives c. 1925

79

Jogoo la shamba haliwiki mjini A village cockerel does not crow in the city.

80

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives Design 1868

81

Vlisco Archives 1925

82

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1910

Samaki ya wavuvi The fish for the fishermen.

83

Vlisco Archives

Example of an early Vlisco kanga printed in two colors, with a hand block-printed border resembling the kisutu. Vlisco had more than eight hundred block printers at the turn of the century.

84

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1910

85

Shipping documents and designs indicating the kanga was made in Japan. From the Japanese collection.

86

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Marhaba mkono wa Eid God is love, receive my Eid greetings.

87

Vlisco Archives 1925

88

THE COLLECTION

Uchawi wa mke ni ulimi wake A woman’s magic is in her tongue.

89

Vlisco Archives 1925

Tumia wewe nifurahike mimi ndio urafikie Use it so that I may be happy, for I am your soul mate.

90

THE COLLECTION

Nabembea kwa raha zangu I swing for my own pleasure.

MADE IN JAPAN

91

Vlisco Archives 1925

Hand-drawn designs were sent to European textile printers. This drawing on paper of a traditional Oud bottle was found in the Vilsco archives with many other sketches for kanga designs.

92

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

93

Design c. 1900

Sitaki shari I do not want trouble.

94

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Kila mtu msharifu dunia ni badilifu Everyone is born innocent, but the world changes them.

95

Vlisco Archives c. 1925

96

THE COLLECTION

Design c. 1900

Wema ulionitendea sitausahau maisha The favor that you did to me, I shall never forget.

97

Vlisco Archives 1925

Nimetupa kalamu ingawa sijaishia hamu I have thrown away the pen, although I still need it.

98

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Simba chai Lion Tea (brand of Tanzanian tea)

99

Abdullah Family Collection 1953

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth This kanga was found in the Abdullah family collection in Mombasa. The family has been a producer of kangas since the late 1800s.

100

THE COLLECTION

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth

101

Design c. 1999

Dumisheni upendo, amani, utulivu na umoja Perpetuate love, peace, tranquility, and unity.

102

THE COLLECTION

Design c. 2008

Hongera Barack Obama Upendo na amani ametujalia Mungu Congratulations Barack Obama.

Love and peace come from God.

103

Jeuri hana utabaki kuguna An insolent man does not care, you will be left grumbling.

104

THE COLLECTION

Design c. 1999

Shillingi ni maua kisha yaua The shilling is a flower and eventually kills.

105

Kanga given as a gift for the Eid celebration.

106

THE COLLECTION

Kilio chako mlilie mungu binadamu ana majungu Ask God to solve your problems; do not ask people because people have the same problems.

Kanga given as a gift for the Eid celebration.

107

A kanga with the Kenyan flag design.

108

THE COLLECTION

Kanga prepared for the opening of East African Railways,1948.

109

Wachemshe hao hao kwangu utapoa You may harass them but don’t try that on me.

110

THE COLLECTION

Zawadi ya mama ni kumwombea uzima A mother’s gift is only to pray for her child’s well-being.

111

Vlisco Archives 1925

Malagasy text

112

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

113

Vlisco Archives 1925

Dunia rangi mbili utajiri na umaskini The world has two colors, richness and poverty.

114

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

115

Vlisco Archives 1925

Nalidhani wangu kumbe washirika I thought she was only mine, but alas, she belongs to many.

116

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Onja leo urudi kesho Taste today, come back tomorrow.

117

Vlisco Archives 1925

Tenga tupu haichukuliki It is nearly impossible to separate grain from the chaff.

118

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Wajua kitu kitamu kiko wapi Do you know where to find the sweet thing?

119

Hati punguzo kwa kila mjamzito na mtoto mchanga Reduce the cost for expectant mothers and children.

120

THE COLLECTION

Moyo wa Yesu ni kitulizo cha matatizo yangu The heart of Jesus comforts me during hard times.

121

Amani upendo umoja Peace, love, unity

122

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Pole pole Slowly by slowly

Taratibu haiharibu Nothing will go wrong if you are careful.

123

Vlisco Archives 1925

Bi harusi kwa somo hana matata A bride will have nothing against her beautician.

124

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Malagasy text

125

Vlisco Archives 1925

Simu ya mpenzi haishi hamu A call from a lover does not make you upset.

This kanga was found in the Abdullah family collection in Mombasa. The family has been a producer of kangas since the late 1800s.

126

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Sifa ya mpenzi awe mardadi My love’s character is defined by the way she keeps herself beautiful.

127

Vlisco Archives 1925

Kukupenda mizani nimezidi My love for you tilts the scales.

128

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Harusi ya kijana watu wamejazana Many people attend the wedding of a young couple.

129

Vlisco Archives 1925

Malagasy text

130

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Malagasy text

131

Vlisco Archives 1925

Jikaze mwaname jua lina kuisha Work hard man, the sun is about to set.

132

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Mahaba tamu ni haya tunayopeana The sweetest romance is what we are now exchanging.

133

Wivu sina shirika sitaki I am not jealous, but I do not want to be intimately involved.

134

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Mughini humpisha koka kwa adabu A villain must give way to a victim as a matter of politeness.

135

Vlisco Archives 1925

Aliyekunyima ndiye aliyenipa He who deprived you is he who provided for me.

136

THE COLLECTION

Design c. 1980

Watu kwa amani People for peace.

This has been one of the most popular kangas since its creation in the mid-1980s.

137

Udongo mkavu haujengi Dry clay cannot build.

138

THE COLLECTION

Design c. 1925

Dalili ya mvua ni mawingu The clouds are a sign that it will rain.

139

Vlisco Archives 1925

Saa zangu zimetimu namkimbiliya mpenzi My time is up, I must rush to see my love.

140

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Saa hii likikosa haina Do not procrastinate; you will miss what you want.

141

Vlisco Archives 1925

Leo furaha kwetu Tanganyika Today is a happy day for our Tanganyika.

142

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

143

Vlisco Archives 1925

Goodbye Tangankiya

144

THE COLLECTION

Ingawa tumeachana yaliobaki ni mazoea Although we are not in a relationship anymore, what is left is just what we are used to.

145

Ukijitahidi utafaidi If you work hard, you will reap.

146

THE COLLECTION

Usia wa Mungu ni ibada What God wants is prayer.

147

Jamvi limechanika wapambe kazi kwenu Beauticians, the mat is old, you have a job to do.

148

THE COLLECTION

Usiendekeze nafsi shida hazishi Do not stress yourself, problems will never end.

149

Maskini na mwanawe tajiri na mali The poor and their children, the rich and their wealth.

150

THE COLLECTION

Furaha yako ni yangu Your happiness is equally mine.

151

Rabi linusuru pendo letu God save our love.

152

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

Ya binadamu huwa hiyari nikiati

(This is Kiamu dialect, spoken in Lamu) People must voluntarily practice justice.

153

Heri pancha ya Pajero kuliko rafiki mwenye kero It is better to have a Pajero with a punctured tire than an irritating friend.

154

THE COLLECTION

Hati punguzo kwa kila mjamzito na mtoto mchanga Reduce the cost for expectant mothers and children.

Kangas may be used for advertising. This kanga was a free giveaway promoting a detergent.

155

Happy birthday to you This is a rare example of a kanga that has text in English.

156

THE COLLECTION

Mungu akupe heri daima May God bless you always.

157

Vlisco Archives 1925

158

THE COLLECTION

Vlisco Archives 1925

159

Endnotes 1 The name leso is commonly believed to have come from the Portuguese word for handkerchief—lenço.

However, some research has suggested that the Portuguese may have borrowed the word lenço from the Swahili during the period that they traded on the East African coast. See S. Zawawi, Kanga: The Cloth That Speaks (New York: Azania Hills Press, 2005).

2 Kangas are most popular in Kenya and Tanzania, although they are also worn in Burundi, Rwanda,and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as in some parts of southern Africa (Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar, and the Comoros Islands).

3 Most frequently Oman.

4 This is the most common story of the origin of the name kanga. However, some research has suggested that this story originates with an officer in the Colonial Administrative Services in Zanzibar (1919) and may be a misinterpretation of local language. See Zawawi, Kanga: The Cloth That Speaks.

5 Kiswahili is a Bantu trade language and is one of the national languages of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

It is spoken throughout East and Central Africa, specifically in the places touched by the slave trade in the 1800s, including Burundi, Rwanda, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and northern Mozambique.

6 Ressler, “The Kanga: A Cloth That Reveals Co-production of Culture in Africa and the Indian Ocean Region.” Presented at the Textile Society of America’s Symposium on Textiles in Politics, Washington, D.C. 7 This is changing—for example, see work done by the British Museum on African printed textiles.

8 Trade winds change directions with the seasons, allowing ships to sail downwind in both directions and shaping centuries of trade. Indian Ocean trade winds blow from the southeast between April and October, and from the northeast between November and March.

9 The region extending from northern Mozambique to the Banadir Coast in Somalia, and including the island city-states of Lamu, Kilwa, and Zanzibar.

10 Gold was mined in Sofala in modern-day Mozambique and controlled by the city of Kilwa.

11 The Kilwa Chronicle, written in the 1500s, records the story of the founding of the city. In this story, a Shirazi prince and his family bought the city from the local chief with cloth—enough to circle the island.

12 There was some production of textiles on the Swahili Coast—Mogadishu and Madagascar were known for their cloth.

13 J. Vogt, “Notes on the Portuguese Cloth Trade in West Africa 1480—1540,” International Journal of African Historical Studies 8.4 (1975): 623—651.

14 While the slave trade in the Indian Ocean region never reached the sheer numbers attained by the transatlantic trade in slaves, it was similarly brutal, with high mortality rates during the journey from the interior and on the journey across the Indian Ocean.

15 E. A. Alpers, African Slave Trade (East African Publishing House, 1967).

16 During the American Civil War, American export of cotton was disrupted and European textile manufacturers were forced to look elsewhere for cotton (for example, to Egypt). In 1865, the American Civil War ended and the market was flooded with cotton, leading to a drop in prices.

17 L. Fair, “Dressing Up: Clothing, Class and Gender in Post-Abolition Zanzibar,” The Journal of African History 39.1 (1998): 63-9 18 The name merikani —is derived from “American.”

160

19 M M Ryan, “The Emergence of the Kanga: A Distinctly East African Textile” in S. Cooksey, ed., Africa Interweave: Textile Diasporas (Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, 2011).

20 Lesos were Portuguese in origin, but produced in Manchester, the Netherlands, and Switzerland in the late 1800s.

21 In the Comoros Islands, women only recently stopped sewing lesos together to form blocks of cloth. The pattern of six square designs on one cloth is still used in southern Somalia. See C. Spring, “Not Really African? Kanga and Swahili Culture,” in H. Arero and Z. Kingdon (eds) East African Contours: Reviewing Creativity and Visual Culture (London: Horniman Museum and Gardens, 2005).

22 As a result, kangas are still sold in matching pairs.

23 For example, Abdulla “Essak” Karadina came to Zanzibar in the 1830s at the age of thirteen and in 1887 began designing, producing, and selling kangas. The Abdulla family business is based in Mombasa and continues to play a role in the design and sale of kangas to this day.

24 Archives from the Dutch textile company Vlisco confirm that, beginning in the 1880s, kangas were being printed in the Netherlands on the orders of German traders working in Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, and Zanzibar.

25 Fair, “Dressing Up,” 63-94.

26 This kanga design was named after the fruit of the rambutan tree, which it resembled.

27 Fair, “Dressing Up,” 63-94 28 In Madagascar, kangas became popular and are called lambas.

29 E. Linnebuhr, “Kanga: Popular Cloths with Messages.” In Readings in African Popular Culture, ed. Karin Barber (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997).

30 For example, photos of the Rwandan royal family dating from 1910 show men and women wearing kangas.

See: Geary, C. 2002. In and out of focus: Images from Central Africa, 1885—1960. Smithsonian: National Museum of African Art. 31 The Dutch textile company Vlisco produced kangas from 1886 to 1973. Early kanga designs were block printed—Vlisco had as many as eight hundred block printers at one time. Vlisco kanga designs were received hand-drawn directly from Zanzibari merchants and were reproduced from these drawings.

32 Roshni Shah of Haria Stamp Shop, Nairobi, Kenya, June 2014.

33 Spring, C. 2005. “Not really African? Kanga and Swahili culture.” In H. Arero and Z. Kingdon (eds) East African contours: Reviewing creativity and visual culture. London: Horniman Museum and Gardens.

34 Kanga merchants in Zanzibar held competitions, soliciting designs from the local community and rewarding the winning design with a free kanga.

35 Steiner, C.B.1985. Another image of Africa: Towards an ethnohistory of European cloth marketed in West Africa, 1873—1960. Ethnohistory 32(2), pp. 91-110.

36 Akinwumi, T.M. (2008) The “African print” hoax: Machine produced textiles jeopardize African print authenticity. Journal of Pan-African Studies, 2(5) 37 The boteh is known as the paisley in Europe, the mango shape in India, and the cashew nut shape in East Africa. Many people feel a kanga is not a true kanga without the boteh symbol.

38 This resist-dye technique is one of the earliest used to dye textiles throughout the Indian subcontinent.

39 Block-printed kisutu designs have been found in European sample books as early as 1870.

40 It is unclear if this is true, since kisutu designs seem to predate the epidemic. The story is cited by Beck,

161

R.M. 2001. Ambiguous signs: The role of the kanga as a medium of communication. Swahili Forum VIII, p.

157-169.

41 Linnebuhr, E. (1997) “Kanga: Popular cloths with messages.” In Readings in African Popular Culture, ed. Karin Barber. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, James Currey, Oxford.

42 Arabic script has been used for written Kiswahili on the East African coast since the early 1700s. One of the earliest examples is an epic poem that dates from 1728.

43 Taarab was an Egyptian tradition imported to Zanzibar.

44 Linnebuhr, E. (1997) “Kanga: Popular cloths with messages. “In Readings in African Popular Culture, ed. Karin Barber. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, James Currey, Oxford.

45 Hamid, M.A. 1996. “Kanga: It is more than what meets the eye—A medium of communication.” African Journal of Political Science, 1(1).

46 Ibid.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid.

49 Strobel, Margaret. 1979. Muslim Women in Mombasa: 1890-1975. New Haven: Yale University Press.

162

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