Dream Weavers

“I think we’re interested in and committed to bringing art to the area that people wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to see,” Amory said. “This fits with our commitment to diversity and representing other cultures and educating people about the whole world that we live in.” 

ESC’s latest art display, Kangas, Kitenges and T-Shirts, is doing just that as it showcases traditional textiles and modern clothing from Africa. Along with the showcase, there will be a panel discussion on Friday, Jan. 23, about what kangas and kitenges actually are. Kangas are colorful rectangular cloths that have borders, a central motif or pattern, and a Swahili saying on them; they are worn as wraps by women. Kitenges are spools of fabric with repeating patterns.

The talk will also focus on the history and evolution of kangas and kitenges, the relevance these African textiles have in the art world, and how African culture influences modern clothing. Amory will be part of the panel, which includes ESC assistant professor in the business program Dr. Margaret Sithole, who is from Africa, and two visiting Yale scholars—Dr. Ann Biersteker, a Swahili language and literary expert, and Dorothy Woodson, curator of Yale’s massive Africana collection. Biersteker and Woodson have loaned ESC the African clothing from their private collections for the exhibit.

Wrap music: African women use kangas to communicate in the present, but also to lay down a legacy of their experiences for their children, their country and their continent.

Amory, also an anthropologist specializing in African studies who traveled to Kenya during her undergraduate years to track down the history of kangas, feels it is especially important for ESC to be hosting this show during the presidential inauguration week. Not only does it feature kangas with images of President Barack Obama, but it also highlights Obama’s ties to Kenya (his father was Kenyan), showing how influenced and entangled all parts of the world have become. Many of them were fashioned during presidential primary season.

“The Obama kangas were incredibly successful because Obama’s father was Kenyan and he’s seen by people in Kenya as a sort of hope for the future on their part as well as in America, so it kind of comes full circle,” Amory said.

Although flattering, it’s not unusual for kangas to display prints of heads of state to show respect to that country and their leaders—even George W. Bush graces some kangas. They are often highly symbolic as well, with different kangas used, Amory said, in every life ritual, such as birth, weddings, death and sex. Possibly most significant, though, are that kangas are used as a way for African women to speak their minds without saying a word.   

“{Kangas are} seen as the property of women, so women use the sayings {on the kangas} to communicate messages to people either by wearing the cloth, or by giving a pair of kangas as gifts. They’ll send a message to their husband by laying a particular kanga on the bed at night: ‘shape up or ship out’ or ‘tonight’s the night, so let’s have some fun.’ It’s a hidden form of communication that allows women who aren’t supposed to speak publicly to express themselves.”

The idea of speaking out through fashion doesn’t just stop in Africa. As urbanization spread throughout the continent, Western styles of clothing were adapted and modified into African culture. Amory wanted this to be a part of the show as well, so she brought in T-shirts from Africa covered in Swahili to show how modernized clothing is used to convey messages much the same way traditional African dress does.

“The tie-in with the T-shirts, if you think about it, {is that} T-shirts are a way we express our opinions on topics that many cannot necessarily express our opinions on, or may not want to,” Amory said. “That’s why in this show we’ve combined more traditional African textiles with T-shirts which people in Africa, like people in the United States, wear to proclaim a particular view.” 

One of the shirts being displayed at the show says, “And God Created Condoms on the Sixth Day,” which Amory said is a bold way to critique both Christianity and the HIV/AIDS epidemic facing Africa. It also portrays modern themes with an African flair, and breaks from what Amory worries is a narrow view many may have of the continent. “Americans have lots of stereotypes about Africa,” she said. “We think it’s lots of animals, and no cities and lots of starving people, but what we want to show people is the dynamic urban life, the richness of culture. Part of our goal is to portray the complexity of Africa.”

While conveying the depth of a notation solely through clothing may seem like a lofty aim, Amory knows that the stories the fabrics tell are powerful. They speak of life beginning, of cultures blending, of times changing. Stunning how a piece of cloth can hold a continent’s tales.

Kangas, Kitenges and T-Shirts runs through May 1 at Empire State College, 6333 Route 298, East Syracuse. The gallery is open Mondays to Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The panel discussion is Friday, Jan. 23, 6 p.m. All events are free. For more information, call 460-3176.

—Jennifer Brown