Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt

Dense mazes and angled lines crowd every panel of this broad tan cloth.

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. 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 in warm tan with stacked panels of dark linear designs, spirals, diamonds and angular mazes. One panel has smaller rounded shapes, the edges are ragged on the left, and the surface is lightly creased. It is 34 inches wide and 94 long.

Every inch is spoken for, and well argued.