Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt with Hand and Foot Motifs

Rusty red cloth with a faint scattering of small marks, stitched in several sections.

This tcaka or dance skirt with hand and foot motifs is Kuba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. 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 a muted brick red, divided into visible sections by horizontal seams. Small dark marks and faint circles are scattered across the surface, and the sides are slightly wavy. It is 29 inches wide and 206 long.

A calm red field where the details prefer to whisper.