Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt

Rust and plum shapes jostle in a bright cream field, edged with a thin black border.

This tcaka or dance skirt is Kuba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is pieced raffia. Kuba cloth comes from the Kuba Kingdom in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where men and women work side by side to make cloths that carry a great deal of symbolism. Long textile with a cream ground and irregular blocks of reddish-brown, plum and black forming stepped, cross-like shapes. A thin black band runs along the left edge and the top is neatly squared off. It is 19 inches wide and 177 long.

Bold blocks arranged with cheerful disregard for the grid.