Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt

Wriggling dark squiggles cover this pale panel like a very energetic handwriting test.

This tcaka or dance skirt is Kuba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is embroidered & applique raffia. Because the cloth is built from separate squares, they can be separated and recombined into new compositions, then backed and hung on a wall much like a tapestry. Long textile in warm tan with meandering dark brown lines, loops and hooked motifs across the upper section. Denser, more geometric marks gather toward the lower end, and the edges are slightly uneven and softly creased. It is 29 inches wide and 138 long.

Loose, looping and delightfully unafraid of free hand.