As part of its exploration of how traditional practices are adapted over decades throughout the African Diaspora, the Museum of the African Diaspora's (MoADSF) current exhibit is yet another stunning example of textile art made by women.
The intricate colorful, patchwork quilts are known as kawandi and are made only by craftswomen living in the little known Siddi communities of Africans in India.
Long before the first slave ships starting suppling slave laour to the cotton plantations of the American- south, and many centuries before the first Africans were brought ashore to the sugar estates of Brazil and the Caribbean, Africans were being sold as slave-soldiers for India's princely states. Their descendants are the least visible part of the huge African diaspora.
But today in India, almost lost among the mosaic of different cultures and communities in that country, are tens of thousands of people of African descent. They are known as Sidis.
Although there are various controversies about their origin, one of the most commonly held theories is that the Siddis are descendants of East African slaves, sailors and merchants.
While they have adopted, adapted, and integrated many aspects of Indian cultures, Siddis have also retained and transformed certain African traditions. In the visual arts, one tradition stands out: the patchwork quilts known as kawandi.
Used as both mattresses and covers, kawandi are made by women for their children and grandchildren. Walking through a Siddi village, kawandi are seen draped over fences, hung on lines, or spread on low roofs to be aired in the sun. Yet they are practically unknown outside Siddi communities, even within India.
Mixing together a vibrant array of well-worn clothing fabrics, Siddi quilts are highly individualistic, yet quilters share many clear and precise opinions about quality, beauty, and the need to “finish properly” the corners with triangular patches called phulas, or flowers. Catholic and Muslim Siddi women sometimes incorporate crosses or crescents in their designs, and baby quilts in particular are often bejeweled with lots of small, colorful patches called tikeli.
The Siddi quilts are another example - like the quilts of Gees Bend - of art that is only now being seen by a wider audience and appreciated as both art and craft. These beautiful quilts are created out of the philosophy of "waste not, want not," in cultures where nothing goes to waste, where beauty and utility go hand in hand.
“Soulful Stitching” is co-curated by Dr. Henry J. Drewal, Evjue-Bascom Professor of African and African Diaspora Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and by Dr. Sarah K. Khan, Director of the Tasting Cultures Foundation. The quilts in the exhibition were made by members of the nonprofit Siddi Women’s Quilting Cooperative, which is keeping this tradition vibrant.
“It’s fascinating to note that while they have adopted some cultural aspects of Indian society, for decades the Siddis have also retained, transformed and passed on from generation to generation certain distinct cultural and artistic traditions from Africa,” said Grace C. Stanislaus, MoAD's Executive Director.
Soulful Stitching opened at the Museum of African Diaspora Friday, July 15, 2011. The traveling exhibition consisting of 32 quilts will be on view until September 18, 2011.
Museum of the African Diaspora
685 Mission Street (at Third)
San Francisco, California 94105
phone: 415.358.7200
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