The most creative practitioners of the dimensional embroideries known as Kuba "velvets" or Kuba cloth are the Shoowa women of the Kuba peoples of DR Congo. These raffia textiles, patterned with improvisational abstract geometric compositions, are part of a wider Kuba tradition of surface design with roots in the ancient textiles of Kongo and other Congolese cultures. This catalogue presents 43 works spanning a time period from the 1890s to 1980s, ranging from the minimalist styles of the Bushong to the sophisticated Shoowa aesthetic.