Request for information about
West Africa historic ‘woolen blankets’ from Mali and the ‘Niger Bend’ area, housed
in UK museums.
This request is from Bernhard Gardi, a very well
regarded West African textiles specialist from Basel, he is writing a book on
woolen blankets from the ‘Niger Bend’ area, and seeking information about
collections in the UK. His last book was "Woven
Beauty", 2009.
Information
about the book and the textiles.
The inspiration for the book is a set of tremendous
images from Ghana showing woolen blankets from the Niger Belt in use in Akan
society, taken by Michelle Gilbert also from Basel.
Bernhard is interested in all sub-Suharan wollen
blankets, and in particular in ones from Mali called ‘kaasa’ blankets. In Ghana, the Akan society uses these blankets and
call them ‘nsaa’. Until recently everybody thought these blankets were
made of 'camel-hair'.
In UK collections they are often wrongly documented as
‘camel-hair blankets’, ‘Kano blankets’ or ‘blankets from the Hinterland’, and most were bought in Ghana, so
could also be documented as Ghanaian, but they originate from Mali.
Bernhard would be very grateful if you could let him
know if you have any Sub-Saharan blankets in your collection. For more information and images Bernhard has
produced a very good PP presentation that he can send to you to help you identify
these textiles, here are his contact details: Bernhard Gardi bernhard.gardi@bluewin.ch tel: 0041-61-271 43 83.
Here is some
more information from Bernhard:
Most early woolen blankets from Mali were bought in
Ghana and not in Mali. For the Akan society they are ritually important,
but they don't really know for what reason anymore, only what comes from up
north has a special ‘power’ for them. They were too numerous in Mali to awake
any interest to the French. As they were rather rare and special and expensive
in the south, Germans, Swiss and British bought them. In Anglophone museum
collections or even in Anglophone dictionaries they go as 'camel-hair
blankets', as 'Kano blankets', as 'blankets from the Hinterland' and the like.
It is interesting to realize the cleavage between the two
imperial policies, French and British. The British didn't care about the
French territories and cultures - and vice versa. That's why the British Museum
has very few Malian textiles. Claude Ardouin, in charge of the African
collection (10, 15 years ago), tried to buy what he could get them. He did
it through my old friend Kolado Cissé, still textile dealer in
Bamako, ca. 66 years old by now.
There is a Mali-Ghana connection. Yes.
What about a Mali-Berber connection? Why are men
weaving in West Africa and not women as it is the case in the Maghreb? Why do
men in sub Saharan Africa weave on treadle looms and not on a vertical loom or
on a ground loom as the Berbers do? So what about that famous trans Saharan
trade? Such and other questions bother me.
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