Unwrapping the Textile Traditions of Madagascar (UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History Textile Series) [Paperback]

Chapurukha Makokha Kusimba (Other Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2005 | Series: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History Textile Series (Book 7)

Unwrapping the Textile Traditions of Madagascar presents the first extensive treatment of Madagascar's textile traditions region by region, giving a systematic overview of the woven products of each part of the country. It includes types of cloth that have previously been overlooked and explores contrasting uses and meanings among the highly varied cultures of the island. It also publishes for the first time many of the remarkable cloths from the collection assembled by Ralph Linton in 1926 and 1927 for the Field Museum, which represents perhaps as much as 50 percent of the textile heritage of Madagascar. Beautiful colour illustrations and scholarly commentary make this book useful for scholars, connoisseurs, and heritage-preservation experts, as well as weavers interested in reviving traditional techniques and designs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chapurukha M. Kusimba is associate curator of African archaeology and ethnology, J. Claire Odland is a museum associate, and Bennet Bronson is curator of Asian archaeology and ethnology, all at the Field Museum in Chicago. Other contributors include Sarah Fee, Rebecca L. Green, Edgar Krebs, Ralph Linton, Liliana Mosca, Simon Peers, Richard Peigler, Chantal Radimilahy, Michel Razafiarivony, and Wendy Walker.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: University of California Los Angeles, Fowler (February 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930741951
• ISBN-13: 978-0930741952
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,644,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > History > Africa > Madagascar

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars place of textile garments in multicultural African society, March 28, 2005

By 

Henry Berry "Henry Berry" (Southport, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unwrapping the Textile Traditions of Madagascar (UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History Textile Series) (Paperback)

As major Madagascar art forms, shawls, dresses, loose-fitting shirts, and also burial shrouds are "fundamental to an individual's ethnic, ideological, spiritual, social, political, and economic identities." These and similar garments have such a place because of the "ease with which cloth can be manipulated." Among some groups in Madagascar, textiles woven by hand and simple, age-old, tools are central in relations between the living and deceased ancestors with the changing of decayed burial shrouds for new ones. Eleven essays by authors with a surprisingly eclectic background--including college teachers in archaeology and ethnology, museum curators, a biologist, and a poet--focus on particular topics of this African island nation's textiles attracting wide notice because of their quality of production, colorfulness, and social significance. An island that has for centuries been a crossroads of trade and migrations from southern Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, Madagascar textiles are particularly complex and diverse; and because of this historical background, they have special meaning for the different groups of the society, as well as for interaction among groups. Textile traditions in different geographical areas, reviews of collections of textiles, the wear of textiles at social events, and the island's silk moths are among the topics. Numerous color photographs, some close-ups in which the weave of a garment can be seen, make for appreciation of the varied textiles; while other photographs exhibit inhabitants of Madagascar wearing the textiles in social activities or ceremonies.