Authentic African Decor Series: Kuba Cloth

There is no such thing as fake Kuba cloth: it either is Kuba cloth, or it isn’t. As a Creative Director that specializes in home products development and interior design, I have come across my fair share of imitations while creating my own products with artisans throughout Africa, or sourcing for interiors projects. These unfortunate counterfeits can be found in major retailers, from West Elm, to digitally printed and mass-produced pillows at World Market. To the untrained eye, which is most of us when shopping for culturally-inspired home decor, we innocently gravitate towards what we instinctively like. But there are ways beyond our instincts that can guide us when shopping for African home decor, and these guides make sure that the cultures the designs originate from benefit from these purchases we spend our hard-earned money on.

During all my book talks for The African Decor Edit book tour, from Los Angeles to London and everywhere in between, guests kept asking one question: how do they know when a certain product is authentic or not? They wanted to be more conscious consumers in a marketplace full of unethical and non-sanctioned imitations. While I share this high-level guidance in the book, this series breaks down what it means for specific home decor products, and this article is dedicated to Kuba cloth. 

What is Kuba cloth

Kuba is a stunning, geometrically designed cloth that originates from the Bakuba kingdom of modern day Congo, in the heart of the African continent. The Bakuba kingdom reigned as one of the most organized and efficient in global history (not just African history), which flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries. Kuba cloth, made from woven raffia fibers, was worn as a ceremonial skirt, carrying symbols that indicate social status. Some of these symbols are still only permitted on clothing for royalty, and violators will be fined. Pieces can be as small as 20”x20”, and skirts were up to 20 feet long (and in some cases, longer), seen below as a table runner. Smaller pieces were used for chairs and stools of prominent individuals. Skirts were worn by kings and other members of the royal court, and wrapped around the body several times.

The base is similar to burlap, and geometric patterns are added either through a patchwork, appliqué, or cut-pile technique. Very sophisticated pieces can have elements of all three. The process has not changed much, if at all, since how it was made in the 16th-century, and the know-how is passed down between family members, or formalized artisan cooperatives. It has since been popularized far beyond the border of Congo. Picasso and Matisse famously (and openly) studied and referenced Kuba cloth in their works, and is now popular in applications beyond “cloth”, as it continues to make its way into global fashion, art, and other aspects of home decor.

 

How to Spot Knock-off Kuba Cloth: 3 Easy Clues

Several elements can be found right on the product tag, or if you are shopping online in the product details or description. Let’s get right into it:

1. Real Kuba cloth is made in Congo, and only in Congo. It is not made in India. It is not made in China. It is not made in Vietnam. So first, check the product tag (or product description, if online) to see where the product was manufactured. You might come across an authentic finished product, such as a bench or pillow, that was assembled outside of Congo (like if a pillow was made in the U.S. using authentic Kuba cloth). In this case, any product information will very likely convey that information, because it’s to the seller’s advantage to do so. The tag on the left from World Market is from their Rust Kuba Print Pillow. As you can see, the product is made in India, so it cannot possibly be Kuba cloth, which is from Congo.

If there are no tags, or tags with minimal information (like if you are in a flea market or an estate sale), you should ask the vendor what country the textile was made in, and hopefully they know where the product they are selling comes from. The pillow on the right is one such example, which a friend purchased for me from a State Department employee “yard sale”.

If shopping online, the product details and description are your go-to there. If the country of origin states “Imported”, the likelihood that the product is not produced, designed, or manufactured by the culture of origin is almost a sure bet. Any vendor selling authentic Kuba cloth would use that as a selling point, and highlight the source and the culture of origin.

2. Secondly, check the materials used to manufacture the product to ensure that it is authentic. Kuba cloth is made by hand, and entirely from raffia palm fibers, an organic material found in the natural environment. The dyes are also natural, and cowry shells are sometimes added as appliques and adornment (below, top). Veritable Kuba cloth, like the raffia it is made from, is somewhat coarse to the touch. This is especially true if you run your hand along the sheared raffia fiber tufts of cut-pile varieties. Counterfeit derivatives will be made from cotton, or other synthetic fibers, making the product uncharacteristically soft to the touch. And as virtuous as it may seem that World Market’s knock-off is made of recycled plastic bottles, that does nothing for the people who the design is stolen from.

 

 

To the extent that these materials are processed and prepared for production, that is all performed by skilled hands. Raffia is softened in a repetitive, rhythmic motion using a large seashell, for example (above, bottom). Given the human touch and organic nature of all of the materials, there will always be some “irregularities” that are unique to each piece. No two pieces of Kuba cloth are ever identical, even if they share motifs, colors, and techniques. Counterfeit Kuba cloth products will be mass produced by machines, so the resulting products are not unique and cannot be distinguished between one another. This brings us to the third and final indicator.

3. Lastly, Kuba cloth, like so many objects made from timeworn technologies and human hands, are not meant to be identical. Weaving and stitching is expertly done by artisans who do not rely on modern machinery or even drawings while creating Kuba cloth, so spacing will not be “even” in the way that a sewing machine or industrial loom quickly executes uniformity. Looking at the pillow detail on the left, you can see the irregularities in the tight weaving pattern, dictated by the width of each raffia strand. The hand-sewn appliqué stitching is spread out and consistent, but not exact. There is quality and a human-informed precision. These are production hallmarks of an authentic Kuba cloth textile.

 

In addition to sewing machine-produced stitching, anything printed in a Kuba cloth fashion, digitally or otherwise, is not Kuba cloth. If you look very closely at the pillow on the right (again, from World Market), you can see that the printing process imitates a textured, dimensional look. But this is a far cry from the beauty of the authentic version on the left, which has a cultural and human story woven into it with each thread.

 

 

Why this matters

 

It is no secret that every corner of Africa has bolstered global development, from mineral extraction to the extraction of human beings, often at its own expense in an exploitative arrangement (colonialism, neo-colonialism, and home-bred corruption that sustains the latter). The prominence of African cultural heritage and material culture has exploded globally, thanks in large part to the home decor industry, and the African diaspora. But the increased demand has counterintuitively led to a decreased demand for weavers, like those I spoke to in the book (right image: a member of Maman Adele’s coop in Kinshasa, Congo). This is ostensibly because manufacturers with no connection to or investment in the preservation and integrity of African cultural heritage are cashing in on its global popularity.

While there could be a legitimate argument for mass-producing and digitally copying Kuba cloth designs (possibly, but not what this article is about), the truth remains that copying designs that possess cultural significance without any consent from the culture of origin, and hoarding economic gain that doesn’t reach the community where it comes from, is yet another form of exploitation and extraction. Not to mention, Kuba cloth artisans, like the ones I interviewed for for The African Decor Edit do not make riches from this line of work, which is their primary source of income. Any purchase of pirated, phony Kuba cloth diverts income away from the people who possess this invaluable knowledge, and who should be entitled to the benefits that derive from it (monetary and otherwise).

On the other hand, when you purchase an authentic Kuba cloth product, whether assembled outside of Congo, or a piece of Kuba cloth itself, you are supporting the existence of this cultural practice. You are also supporting the creative class and the artisans who rely on the commercialization of their cultural heritage for their livelihood. While the value of these objects is not solely economic (because this is not why African cultural heritage objects were originally conceived), it is a very real benefit in the globalized world of today.

Where we go from here

 

This system of copying designs, and passing them off as if they are original is lazy and unoriginal. The demand relies on shoppers not knowing that the product they are drawn to is complicit in cultural and economic exploitation. I am a firm believer that consumers (again, myself included) hold the greatest power in the marketplace. Corporations and retailers listen when we vote with our dollars. Just look at the various boycotts and protests that have taken place over the past few years. The Target boycott has been wildly successful, which is poetic justice, because they are also one of the key retailers of counterfeit and design infringed African cultural heritage. (They love a good digitized mudcloth print made in India. More on that in the next article.)

 

Now that you know how to identify real Kuba cloth (like in the pillow above) versus the knock-offs, do not support the retailers who undermine African cultural heritage and livelihoods. Let’s make it very taboo to do so, in the same way that we do with knock-off luxury goods, because Kuba cloth is a luxury good, and the skill and history behind it is proof of that. You can also do your part by spreading the word! Share this article, or at least something you learned from it with someone you know who loves African cultural heritage objects and home decor. The information is at our finger tips!This is how we make a difference. This is how we make an impact.

 

Stay tuned for our next article on Mudcloth and bogolan from Mali.