Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt

Rust red and cream reverse each other in hooks and dashes, edged with a ragged fringe.

This tcaka or dance skirt is Kuba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is woven & applique raffia. The cloth is made from raffia palm leaves, which are gathered, dried, softened, dyed and stripped into fibers before being woven into panels and then embroidered. Long textile in rust red with cream hooks, bars, dots and small angular marks, the colors swapping across the middle. A short fringe edges both sides and the lower end is frayed and uneven. It is 32 inches wide and 324 long.

Fringed, flipped and lively in two colors.