Section Of A Ceremonial Dance Skirt

The Kuba (or Bakuba) comprise approximately 19 ethnic groups in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, organized into lineages according to matrilineal descent. The groups are united in a kingdom ruled by the Bushongo, whose chief is king by divine right—although his mother has historically held a higher status.[1]
The Kuba are known as bambala, or “people of the cloth.”[2] Their region is home to two species of palm trees, the oil palm and raffia palm; the second of these is the basis for Kuba textile arts. Ceremonial skirts from this period were often made from raffia, which served as a ground for asymmetrical compositions of abstract shapes that were part geometric, part anthropomorphic. The section presented here would have been one of a number of panels sewn together horizontally before being wrapped around the body in the customary fashion, such that the lower edges of inner panels would show beneath the panels layered above them. Although the inner panels were mostly hidden, they were decorated just as richly as the outer panels—a testament to the artistry of the maker and the status of the wearer.[3]

Section Of A Ceremonial Dance Skirt; Made by Kuba People; raffia; H x W (mounted): 77.5 × 69.9 cm (30 1/2 × 27 1/2 in.); Gift of Gail Martin; 2017-63-2