Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt

Rows of black triangles march through a frame of bold, interlocking key lines.

This tcaka or dance skirt is Kuba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is bark, cloth & raffia. Abstract geometric designs on the cloth act as a visual language valued across Kuba society, and some say it grew from scarification patterns, crop patterns or even divine intervention. Broad textile with a central field of tight black triangles on a cream ground, framed by wide cream-and-black bands of angled, maze-like lines. The edges are rough and slightly irregular, with a finished outline. It is 26 inches wide and 58 long.

A pattern with its elbows out and no apologies.