Mbuti Barkcloth Panel, Democratic Republic of Congo

Spirals everywhere, like a crowd of curled fern fronds.

Mbuti artists of the Ituri Forest, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, painted this barkcloth panel with pigment in the 20th century. Mbuti barkcloth is traditionally beaten from the bark of forest trees and is commonly worn as a wrap. Here dozens of dark spirals, some single, some doubled, cover the cream surface, joined by short wandering lines. The spacing is loose, and the ink has a lively, hand-drawn variation. The panel has a pronounced center crease.

About 32 by 14 inches. A hundred small curls, no two alike.