58 Traditional Swaziland Shield Subject of many prints in various colour combinations © Nkosi Acquired Manzini Swaziland 2001
31 detail: Air Malawi – Welcome to the Warm Heart of Africa – Malawi Specially Made for A. R. Sattar D No. 919 Acquired Lilongwe Malawi 1999
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12 detail: Houses and cars Crown Brand II West African Print (Ghana) Acquired Lusaka, Zambia 1999 13 detail with brand label: Televisions Super London Towers G C prints D.N. Acquired in market Accra, Ghana 1997
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Artist: Esther Mahlangu, SA
Talking textiles - the cell phone While most Africans have never had a landline telephone, the cellular or mobile has become a very desired and relatively accessible commodity. It has also become a popular fabric image as the two mobile phone designs in this exhibition indicate. The cell phone take up rate in Africa has been astonishing. It is explained by the lack of fixed telecommunications infra-structure.
Even when people don’ t have air-time on their mobiles they can be contacted by family members and friends who do. A system to send free messages asking people to “call me” is in place all over Africa and is heavily used.
The widespread use of cell phone technology has also enabled remittance companies to establish systems across much of rural Africa, enabling African migrants across the globe, including Australia, to send money to relatives back in Africa.
According to the U.N.’s International Telecommunication Union, cellphones (mobiles) made up 74.6 percent of all African phone subscriptions in 2005. Cellphone subscriptions jumped 67 percent south of the Sahara in 2004, compared with 10 percent in cellphonesaturated Western Europe.
In Tanzania cell phones not only offer opportunity through voice services but emerging technologies that bring Internet access to phones, bypassing the need for a computer for connecting to the World Wide Web. Computers are rare in much of the region due to poor wire-line infrastructure. A recent study found 97 percent of people in Tanzania said they could access a mobile phone, while only 28 percent could access a landline. With unreliable electrical grids, a technology that offers Internet access without a costly PC promises to pay dividends for many, many Africans.2
An industry that barely existed 10 years ago is now worth $25 billion. Prepaid air minutes are the preferred means of usage and have created their own $2 billion-a-year industry of small-time vendors. Air minutes have even become a form of currency, transactable from phone to phone by text message.1
65 Cellular/mobile phone Acquired Dar es Salam Tanzania 2003
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1 http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2005-10-16-africa-cellular_x.htm] 2 http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0712-rhett_butler.html
70 detail: Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group Women in Zambia for equality and representation. Millennium Challenges for Women Gift of Zambian member of Media Institute for Southern Africa, Lusaka Zambia 2002
24 detail: Safe Motherhood – helping to prevent maternal death Uchembere Wabwino – Kuchepetsa imfa za amayi a pakati Healthy Mother Healthy Baby Healthy Malawi Mayi Wathanzi, Mwanna Wathanzi, Malawi Wathanzi Safe Motherhood 9438 Acquired Lilongwe Malawi 1999
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Salittwa Clinic Nessie Knight Hospital, Transkie SA 2005 Mother Noandile Nompele with baby Asake Nompehle, and others.
No Parallel in History – The HIV/AIDS Pandemic The top cloth opposite page is an amalgam of several cloths presented in the exhibition Khangas Homage to Life by textile design students of the Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria in 2004. This cloth was commissioned by the American Embassy in South Africa and printed by da Gama Textiles in South Africa. The stigma against those suffering from HIV/AIDS in many African countries is a serious deterrent for discussion, prevention and behavioural change. The fact that a virus is not visible and that HIV/AIDS deaths are often in association with already known diseases such as TB and pneumonia are partly cause for the lack of tangible acknowledgement for this ‘modern disease’. This cloth was created to “present innovative visual approaches to communicating on HIV/ AIDS while using a traditional medium” and to hopefully stimulate discussion on this pandemic in Africa. As women are the carers and the farmers in many African countries and as this pandemic affects more woman than men, the consequences are catastrophic for farming, food production and therefore health and malnutrition levels. The level of infection particularly in rural communities will have long term affects on food production, as farms lie idle because there is no-one to work them. According to the latest South African Health Study, 29.5 percent of pregnant women were HIV positive. And, the number of ‘Aids orphans’ is increasing. Today, grandmothers bear much of the burden of care and while many orphans have some community and family care this will diminish dramatically as the older generation dies. 2005 UNESCO figures list South Africa as the highest population worldwide of people infected with HIV at 21.8 percent or 6.3 million, 55 percent of whom are women. In neighbouring Zambia it is approximately 1 in 6 of the population. Girls and young women are more prone to infection and the cycle of less education, dependence and subordination compounds the problem. The South African Government’s position on HIV/AIDS has named the key links between
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the virus and poverty, gender imbalance and illiteracy, as cause. However such statements often confuse and misinform the most vulnerable of the population. Unfortunately, as the Botswana experience has demonstrated, even with a relatively high level of funding for HIV/AIDS awareness, changing social patterns is difficult. The first HIV/AIDS case was reported in 1985 and a concerted campaign commenced in 1989. In 2002, over 35 percent of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics were HIV positive. However external funding may have conditions which are not sensitive to cultural or practical realities on the ground and which can be seen as tied to the political agenda of the donor country. An example of this are the guidelines around the promotion of condom use, issued by USAID under the Bush administration. Since his retirement in 1999 Nelson Mandela has devoted much time to HIV/AIDS intervention projects, particularly through the Nelson Mandela Childrens Foundation. He encourages openness about how we are all either infected or affected. When his oldest son died from HIV/AIDS in 2005 he publicly stated the cause of death. When a son of Buthelazi, Head of the Inkatha Freedom Party in South Africa died recently Buthelazi declared his family to be affected with AIDS. Princess Diana was very popular in Africa and many mourned her untimely death. She was admired for her spirit of Ubuntu, (the acknowledgement that we all exist in relation to one another), visited Africa several times and was supportive of work to do with HIV/AIDS and land mines. The Diana Memorial Fund, funds palliative care in sub-Saharan Africa.
56 detail: Caring Commissioned by the US Embassy in South Africa from da Gama Textiles, Zwelitsha South Africa Design: Zinhle Tswane
47 detail: Queen of Hearts Princess Diana Veritable Wax Anglais Acquired Chimoio Mozambique 1998
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Africans in Australia African migration to Australia began in the 1960s, following the end of the “White Australia Policy’. The first phase were students and businessmen from Nigeria and Ghana, the English-speaking West African Commonwealth countries where Australia had High Commissions. The migrants were relatively few in number and mainly male, often on Australian tertiary scholarships to study in fields not available in their own country. They often married Australians and settled into the growing urban centre - principally Melbourne and Sydney. As one informant remarked of those days, “As soon as Australians realised I wasn’t Aboriginal, racism gave way to curiosity. They were amazed that I came from a country were there were no white settlers and Africans ran the businesses and governments.” The second group of African migrants to Australia were from Englishspeaking Commonwealth countries of East Africa, such as Kenya; again many young men and some women on tertiary scholarships. In 1972 a wave of asian Africans, expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin, and other east african Asians fearful for their future in East Africa started to arrive. Many of the Asians were businessmen and professionals and simply melted into the growing Asian community in urban Australia. The late 1970s and early 1980s witnessed an increasing Australian awareness of the political and economic problems in Africa. The government granted humanitarian and refugee visas to the victims of famines in Ethiopia, as well as to refugees from the liberation struggles of the Eritreans in the Horn of Africa; against the racist regimes in Namibia (South West Africa), South Africa, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and to a lesser extent Portuguese Mozambique and Angola. There was also a steady trickle from the refugee camps in
Zambia, people who had escaped from prosecution in Mobutu’s Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo), Banda’s Malawi, Iain Smith’s whitesettler regime in Southern Rhodesia-Zimbabwe, South African controlled Namibia and South Africa itself. Kenneth Kaunda’s Zambia was a refuge for the persecuted from across southern and central Africa and the Australian High Commission was active in issuing visas. The largest group of African migrants to Australia in the 1980s and 1990s were of European descent, fleeing the civil war in Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and the apartheid regime in South Africa. Most were educated professionals or skilled technicians, who entered under normal migration visas. While many of the black South African political refugees returned to South Africa and Namibia following their liberation, the influx of those of european origin from South Africa and Zimbabwe has continued. Among the majority African population they left behind there are still lingering resentments that wealthier South Africans mostly of european descent, have the education and resources to emigrate overseas. Despite the publicity campaign by South Africa’s embassies overseas to encourage skilled South Africans to return and redress the skills shortage, most left out of fears for their long term personal security and are reluctant to return. During the 1990s the composition shifted increasingly to refugees fleeing civil wars in the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia and southern Sudan. Today the Somali community is amongst the largest black African communities in Australia, concentrated primarily in Melbourne and, to a lesser extent, Sydney.
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Wedding khanga set - Doti Brisbane, April 2006
As a result of the Commonwealth government’s policy of encouraging refugees to settle outside Melbourne and Sydney, there are now sizable southern Sudanese communities elsewhere. There are more than 900 Sudanese in Toowoomba, Queensland’s largest in land city. Sudanese were the most rapidly increasing group between the 1996 - 2001 census, with an increase of more than 105 percent across Australia. The divisions caused by the Somali civil war are reflected in the residential pattern of Somalis in greater Melbourne, with opposing clan groups settling in different suburbs. Despite previous experience as civil servants and professionals with skills and qualifications, many Somalis have had difficulty securing jobs, other than as taxi drivers. Many of the younger migrants have problems in Australian schools, having lost years of educational opportunities fleeing civil strife or living in impoverished refugee camps in rural Africa. This often leads to generational tensions within families and with authorities. Many of the support networks that helped sustain earlier migrants have been cut back or are more difficult to access. As the numbers of black Africans and, particularly, muslim Africans have increased, there are increasing incidents of
racism, especially since 9/11. The image of tolerance held by refugees and many middle-class white Australians is not the experience of black African migrants on the streets, in the schools and in the workplace. Queensland, particularly Brisbane has been slower than the southern states and Western Australia in its uptake of the increasing number of refugees coming to Australia. In 1986, there were over 3,522 African born peoples living in Queensland mainly from southern and eastern Africa, of european origin. In 1996 the number had increased to more than 16,992, over half of them (8,559) from South Africa. In the 2001 census for example, 20.3 percent of the arriving Sudanese settled in Melbourne with 7.8 percent in Queensland. Victoria settled 2310 Somalis, and Queensland 190. However, these figures are unlikely to be totally accurate because many Africans enter from New Zealand and some do not or cannot fill in the Census forms. About 6 percent of Sudanese spoke English on arrival prior to the 2001 census. The composition of African migrant refugee intake into Australia has fluctuated with drought, civil wars and ethnic clashes over the decades. What is remarkably consistent over the last two decades has been the commitment of African refugees to advancement through tertiary education. As a percentage of the population, they outstrip other recent migrants in their quest for acceptance, integration and financial success
through education. It has often been a frustrating experience however, especially with the reassertion of Australian racism in recent years. ‘Multiculturalism’ has become increasingly politicised, with the conservative federal government longing for a mythological past of migrant assimilation into the dominant Anglo-Australian norms. Since 9/11 and the ‘war on terrorism’, migrants, especially those from muslim countries, have become increasingly suspect. Recourse to crude stereotypes by politicians and the media have fanned the latent racism amongst some, frustrated by their economic and social marginalization, and fear, who direct their anger toward ‘the other’—non-european and muslim migrants, the latest arrivals on our shores. One of the most fascinating aspects of some newer African migrants however, is their trans-national culture. They don’t conform to the older stereotype of assimilation into Australian culture or even ‘multiculturalism’. The latest generation of migrants are apt to be truly trans-nationals, seeing themselves as both Australian and Somali…. They play an active role in politics ‘back home’, send back money to relatives on a regular basis, maintain contacts through cell-phones and invest in homes and businesses ‘back home’. They live in both worlds and regularly commute by air between the two.
48 George Bush & Bin Ladin Imported Wax R.D NO-3021 Acquired from wearer Maputo Mozambique 2005
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The Tracey Naughton African Textile Collection Tracey Naughton began sewing at an early age inheriting her grandmother’s knee controlled Singer sewing machine, and travelling since with a sewing machine and a love of textiles. Her professional life while based in Africa (1992 – 2006) was immersed in the use of communication media for development – the public discourse of voice and perspective. Always operating with a textile orientation Tracey began taking in and reading the colourful cloth worn by many Africans and seeing the fabrics as a form of communication. Concerned about the continuing colonial gaze and Afro-pessimism expressed by developed nations in patronising aid projects and pernicious media coverage, Tracey began to see African cloth as a countering expression. For her, a design anthropology that manifested the wealth of knowledge contained in Africa’s many cultures emerged through cloth. Everyday patterns were telling the stories of a troubled colonial history and the contemporary shift in the balance of power and priorities. National pride and identity was being expressed in clothing. Key social change campaigns were promoted on cloth. In her many work trips to African countries, Tracey included visits to the dynamic visual landscapes of local markets. There the differences in textile production techniques became visible, as did the use of similar motifs across countries and time. The factory produced cloth includes wax prints, made using a film of wax that when crushed allows ink through to form crackle lines over an often unevenly placed block printed design. Imitations printed the crackle effect without using wax, and less expensive roller prints allowed for more detail. Tracey noted a design trend in the roller print range that commemorated significant political events and leaders. Whilst not available in every country, these cloths became the initial focus of her collection. When these were not available she purchased other designs including a detailing of desirable commodities, sporting heroes, international celebrities, traditional ceremony, national pride, social campaigns and religious cloths. Ten of the commemorative cloths, became the Embroidered Leadership Banner Series, and were embellished with beading typical of southern African women’s handiwork and Tracey’s favoured textile technique, machine embroidery. The collection currently includes one hundred and fifty cloths from sixteen African countries. These may be divided into four main categories: • Embroidered Leadership Banners series of ten • Khangas of Eastern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar) • Factory printed cloth including wax, imitation and fancy prints • Traditionally woven and dyed cloths from Mali, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Ghana and Kenya For this exhibition the curators selected from the first three categories including work from all countries represented. The full range in these three categories includes: Botswana (1), Ghana (3), Kenya (18), Namibia (1), Malawi (21), Mozambique (48), South Africa (14), Swaziland (5), Tanzania, including Zanzibar (19), Tunisia (2), Zambia (5), Zimbabwe (3) (Some cloths not presented in this exhibition have been cross-referenced with those that have).
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Through conversations with market buyers and wearers Tracey gradually identified local African (though often contradictory) perspectives on the use of fabrics, the origins of the cloth and the interpretation of designs. Popular motifs often had a name that could vary from country to country. It emerged that while designs left the factory without a name, the women – buyers and traders, would popularise one and give particular cultural significance to them. Several rare cloths were purchased directly from women wearing them who accepted two new cloths in return. This exchange was very amusing to both the wearer and bystanders. In each country Tracey made contact with political organisations to establish if they produced and had stock of party fabric. It was often the preserve of the women’s leagues within parties to distribute the cloth and make it into garments. Sometimes, as in the case of the Zimbabwean ZANU-PF, there was great suspicion about why a non-party member would be interested in the fabric. Then, after negotiations, only a little piece was sold (now in the Embroidered Leadership Series). In Botswana when asked if there was a cloth featuring President Festus Mogae, an indignant party official retorted that “sitting on the Presidents face was not allowed!” Instead, the ruling Botswana Democratic Party prints the national emblem. The decline of national textile factories in the face of globalised trade patterns became apparent as Tracey was referred to manufacturers, only to find empty buildings. The once high volume Whitex Factories in Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa have all closed down. Textafrica Mozambique’s largest textile factory- closed in February 2002. Although the collection focus is on commemorative cloth featuring political leaders, Tracey’s favourites are the khangas of East Africa for their sayings and the South African Shweshwe cloth that in the context of Africa’s collapsing textile industries looks like being a cultural survivor. She is particularly endeared to Shweshwe for the special Madiba range honouring Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. The Tracey Naughton African Textile Collection will continue to grow and maintain its intention to offer a lesser known perspective on the wisdom that Africa has to offer the world we all live in. There have been international exhibitions of African fabric collections and commemorative cloths particularly in the US. The first was at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in the 1970s followed by others including: the University of Missouri-Kansas City Gallery of Art; The Newark Museum, New Jersey; and most recently The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. There has also been one at The Museum of Mankind, London (1980s) and the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa in 1997. This is the first time such an exhibition has been mounted in Australia from the only such collection believed to be owned by an Australian.
detail: King Mswati III - Swaziland (born Makhosetiv means King of Nations) Bayethe Ngwenyama (Hail King) b.1968 Term as Monarch April 25 1986 – present Tracey Naughton, Lena Cloete Maputo, Mozambique; Windhoek, Namibia 2002 Š Nkosi Fabric acquired Mbabane market, 1997
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List of works – Walala Wasala The Embroidered Leadership Banners Series of Ten 1994 to 2006 Tracey Naughton with southern African women as listed Cotton quilting, machine and hand embroidery; embellishments—thread, ostrich shell buttons, sequins, safety pins, beads, feathers, braiding, baubles, edging, fabric, mock skin, hair.
2 Nelson Mandela - South Africa b.18 July 1918 Working for jobs peace freedom A better life for all ANC Presidential term May 1994–June 1999 Made by Tracey Naughton, Johannesburg, South Africa 1998 ©Nkosi Fabrics, acquired Jo’burg, SA1997 3 Robert Mugabe - Zimbabwe Features Zimbabwe Ruins 16th century AD b.1924 Prime Minister 4 March 1980–1987 when office abolished, Presidential term 1987–present Made by Tracey Naughton, Estha Mamba Johannesburg, SA, Manzini, Swaziland 2004 Fabric acquired ZANU-PF (Ruling party in Zimbabwe) Women’s League ZANU-PF Headquarters, Harare, Zimbabwe, 1999 4 The Mother of the Nation Winnie Mandela - South Africa With love Winnie Mandela (signature) b.26 September 1936 Made by Tracey Naughton, Martha Matlala, Johannesburg, SA 1999 Acquired Shell House, former ANC Headquarters, Johannesburg 1995 5 SADC—Southern African Development Community 2001 12 southern African member countries represented by their Heads of State Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela b.1918, South Africa African National Congress, ANC Presidential term May 1994–June 1999 Bakili Muluzi b.1943, Malawi United Democratic Front UDF Presidential term 17 May 1994–May 2004 Robert Gabriel Mugabe b.1924, Zimbabwe Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front, ZANU-PF Prime Minister March 4 1980–1987 when office abolished Presidential term 1987–present Frederick J.T. Chiluba b.1943, Zambia Movement for Multiparty Democracy, MMD Presidential term 2 November 1991 to 2 January 2002 Benjamin William Mkapa b.1938 - Tanzania Revolutionary Party (Chama Cha Mapinduzi; CCM) Presidential term 23 November 1995 to November 23 2005 Mswati III b.1968 - Swaziland Term as Monarch 25 April 1986–present
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Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma b.1929, Namibia South West African People’s Organization, SWAPO Presidential term 21 March 1990 to March 20 2005 Cassam Uteem b.1941 - Mauritius Presidential term 30 June 1992 to 15 February 2002 Letsie III (original name David Mohato Bereng Seeiso) b.1963 - Lesotho Term as monarch 1990–1995, 1997 to present. He succeeded his father, Moshoeshoe II José Eduardo dos Santos b.1942 - Angola Movimento Popular da Libertação de Angola (MPLA) Presidential term 10 September 1979 to present Joaquim Alberto Chissano b.1939 - Mozambique Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo) Presidential term 6 November 1986 to 2 February 2005 Festus Gontebanye Mogae b.1939 - Botswana Botswana Democratic Party BDP Presidential term 1 April 1998 to present Made by Tracey Naughton, Lena Cloete Windhoek, Namibia 2004 Fabric acquired in Gaborone, Botswana at SADC Headquarters 6 Joaqim Alberto Chissano O Nosso Presidente Amigo República da Moçambique b.1939 Presidential term 6 November 1986 - 2 February 2005 Made by Tracey Naughton, Lena Cloete Maputo Mozambique, Windhoek, Namibia 2002 Fabric MBS No. 11984 7 King Mswati III - Swaziland (born Makhosetiv means King of Nations) Bayethe Ngwenyama (Hail King) b.1968 Term as Monarch 25 April 1986–present Tracey Naughton, Lena Cloete Maputo, Mozambique; Windhoek, Namibia 2002 © Nkosi Fabric acquired Mbabane market, 1997 8 Botswana Emblem Pula is Setswana for ‘rain’ and is the name of the currency Tracey Naughton, Lena Cloete Windhoek, Namibia 2001 Ostrich shell buttons made by San community members in East Hanahai, Kalahari Desert © Nkosi Fabric acquired 1996 from informal trader Gaborone, Botswana 9 Bakili Muluzi b.1943 Malawi wife Patricia Shanil Muluzi b.1964 Happy Marriage 9th October 1999 Made by Tracey Naughton, Lena Cloete Windhoek, Namibia 2002 Fabric acquired from informal trader Blantyre, Malawi 2000 10 Chief Mangasutho Gatsha Buthelazi, President Inkatha Freedom Party – South Africa Viva Shengi (Long Live Shengi – Buthelazi’s clan name) Tracey Naughton, Estha Mamba Jo’burg, South Africa 2004 – 6 © Nkosi Fabric acquired informal trader Stanger, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa 2003
detail: 3 Robert Mugabe – Zimbabwe b.1924 Prime Minister March 4 1980 – 1987 Presidential term 1987 – Made by Tracey Naughton, Estah Mamba
1 Mwalimu J K Julius Nyerere - Tanzania Buriani Baba Wa Taifa Mwalimu J. K. Nyere 13 April 1922–14 October 1999 Presidential term 29 October, 1964–November 5, 1985 Made by Tracey Naughton, Lena Cloete Windhoek, Namibia 2001 Acquired street vendor, Dar es Salam, Tanzania 1998
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African Manufactured Textile lengths by country of acquisition and believed to be country of origin Unless otherwise stated all cloths come from The Tracey Naughton African Textile Collection Republic of Ghana 11 Regional hair braiding tribal and contemporary Real Africano veritable wax print AV-4303 Acquired in market Accra, Ghana 1995 12 Houses and cars Crown Brand II West African Print Acquired Lusaka Zambia 1999 13 Televisions Super London G C prints D.N. 8142 Acquired in market Accra, Ghana 1997 Republic of Kenya 14 Mourning cloth Said to have been used to designate plague victims in early 20th century plague in Nairobi Acquired Nairobi Kenya 2005 15 Watu kwa Amani People of Peace Design no 3020 16 Karibu Mgeni - Welcome Visitors Made for the All Africa Games - Soccer 1987 Hakuna Tabu, Mombasa Acquired Nairobi Kenya 2005 17 Mwema Akiondoka Wanyonge Huteseka When someone good and caring goes the weak ones will suffer Registered Mali Ya Mototo Acquired Nairobi Kenya 2000 18 Usiwe Golikipa Kila Jambo Kulidaka Don’t be a goalkeeper with everything (you don’t have to keep everything in your head) Mali Ya Francis Mombasa Design No. 20180 Acquired Nairobi Kenya 2005 19 Mikono Ya Wazazi Ni Dawa The arms of your parents are like medicine K.H.E. Regd. Mali Ya Abdulla, Mombasa Design No. 104242 Acquired Nairobi Kenya 2005 20 Huba Huna Na Hisani Hukumbuki You can’t remember something that you don’t know K.H.E. Regd. Mali Ya Abdulla, Mombasa Design No. 6165 Acquired Nairobi Kenya 2005 21 Nikipata Nikikosa Yawahusu Nini If you get or don’t get, it’s up to you, not somebody else K.H.E. Regd. Mali Ya Abdulla, Mombasa Design No. 104247 Acquired Nairobi Kenya 2005
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22 Waridi Ni Harufu Si Rangi Something that smells can be heard from afar K.H.E. Regd. Mali Ya Abdulla, Mombasa Design No. 104241 Acquired Nairobi Kenya 2005 23 Sifa Ni Kusifwa Si Kujisifu Don’t praise yourself, let others praise you K.H.E. Regd. Mali Ya Abdulla, Mombasa Acquired Nairobi Kenya 2000 Republic of Malawi 24 Safe Motherhood - helping to prevent maternal death Uchembere Wabwino - Kuchepetsa imfa za amayi a pakati Healthy Mother Healthy Baby Healthy Malawi Mayi Wathanzi, Mwanna Wathanzi, Malawi Wathanzi i Safe Motherhood 9438 Acquired Lilongwe Malawi 1999 25 Commemorating 100 years of Inkosi Gomani 1 Inkosi Gomani 1 9278 Acquired Blantyre Malawi 1999 26 Yao Chieftanship in the Millennium Umwenye Wa Chiyao M’Millennium Progress with Yao Chieftaincy in the Millennium Kusengwa Ni Uchimwene Wa Chiyao Acquired Lilongwe Malawi 1999 27 Malawi - Peace and Unity in the New Millennium 2000 Dr Livingstone - Destroyer of Slavery John Chilembwe - First Freedom Fighter Dr H. K. Banda - Destroyer of Federation Dr B. Maluzi - Father of Genuine Democracy Acquired Lilongwe Malawi 1999 28 1994 Year of Liberation for all South Africans duplicated design with addition of “Congratulations from the warm heart of Malawi” Veritable Wax Anglais A 786150 Acquired Blantyre Malawi 2000 29 Soccer Africa Cup 2000 Cameroon, South Africa, Morroco, Nigeria, Tunisia Acquired Blantyre Malawi 2000 30 UDF - United Democratic Front Whitex Fabric, Malawi Acquired Blantyre 2000 31 Air Malawi - Welcome to the Warm Heart of Africa - Malawi Specially made for A. R. Sattar D No. 919 Acquired Lilongwe Malawi 1999
32 Maria Mai Wa Mtendere 2896 Acquired Lilongwe Malawi 1999 Republic of Mozambique 33 25 de Junho de 1975 Independence Nacional MBS 13288 Big Cashew Nut Acquired Maputo Mozambique 1997 34 Os Pilares da Nacao Mocambiquana The solid pillars of the new Mozambique Eduardo Mondlane, Samora Moises Machel, Joaquim Chissano MBS 13288 Acquired Maputo Mozambique 2006 35 1975 Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane O Saudoso Herói da Nação The Much Missed Hero of the Nation MBS 119w70 Acquired Maputo 2003 36 Josina Machel— A Saudosa Mamã da Nação Josina Machel—The Much Missed Mother of the Nation MBS 12027 37 Presidente Samora Moises Machel A Vitoria Organiiza - Se a vitoria constroi - se MBS No 13249 38 Julius Kamberage Nyerere, Samora Moises Machel O Acender Da Chama Sagrade Da unidade, liberdade, prosperidade dos povos da Africa Austral To light the sacred flame for unity, liberty and prosperity for the peoples of southern Africa MBS 13008 Acquired Maputo Mozambique 2006 39 Presidente Eduardo Mondlane Conversando Com O Camarada Joaquim Chissano President Eduardo Mondlane in conversation with his comrade Joaquim Chissano MBS 13238 Acquired Maputo Mozambique 2006 40 Maria de Lurdes Mutola A Amenina Africana Campeã do Mundo The World Champion African Girl Grupo MBS Acquired Maputo Mozambique 2005 41Maria de Lurdes Mutola Pronta-a-ganbar Giro pre-pago Pronto-a-falar Ready to speak Pre-paid, Speak faster MBS No 13179 Acquired Maputo Mozambique 2006
42 Frelimo, Armando Emilio Guebuza Vota Vota Mocambique (2004 national elections) Vote Vote Mozambique Acquired Maputo Mozambique 2005 43 Elavatiwo - Water KTM TAZ D.N. 8397 Acquired Maputo Mozambique 2003
55 King Goodwill Zwelithini ©Nkosi South Africa Kitenge Design 8587/2 Acquired Stanger KwaZulu Natal South Africa 2000
44 VIVA a Mulher Mocambicana Long Live the Mozambiquan Woman MBS 6773 Acquired Maputo Mozambique 2001
56 Caring Commissioned by the US Embassy in South Africa from da Gama Textiles, Zwelitsha South Africa Design: Zinhle Tswane
45 Oganização Pan Africana Das Mulherses PAWO - Pan-African Women’s Organisation MBS No 12029 Acquired Maputo Mozambique 2001
57 da Gama Fabric range labels and samples 2006 - Three Cats, Fancy Prints, Toto
46 Jesus Crucificado Crucification of Jesus MBS 5372 Acquired Maputo 2002 47 Princess Diana, Queen of Hearts Acquired Tete Mozambique 1998 Queen of Hearts Princess Diana Veritable Wax Anglais Acquired Chimoio Mozambique 1998 Princess Diana Japan Ave. SP No. 150 Acquired Maputo Mozambique 1999
11 Regional braiding tribal and contemporary Real Africano veritable Wax print AV-4303
54 Women Unite for People’s Power Now is the Time ANC Women’s League Nkosi Fabric Acquired Johannesburg 2004
48 George Bush & Bin Ladin Imported Wax R.D NO-3021 Acquired from wearer Maputo Mozambique 2005 Republic of Namibia 49 The crest and districts of Namibia Acquired Windhoek Namibia 2002 Republic of South Africa 50 Original 1994 ANC cloth - 1994 Year of Liberation for all South Africans Acquired Shell House (ANC Headquarters) Johannesburg South Africa 1994 51 Nelson Mandela - Madibi range Set of four Shweshwe range of garment fabrics Acquired da Gama Textile Factory Zwelitcha South Africa 2005 52 Thabo Mbeki © Nkosi Fabrics Acquired Style Fabrics Oriental Plaza Johannesburg South Africa 2003 53 Working together for jobs, peace, freedom a better life for all ANC shield & flag 1912-1994 © Nkosi Fabrics acquired Shell House former ANC HQ Johannesburg South Africa 2004
Kingdom of Swaziland 58 Traditional Swaziland Shield Subject of many prints in various colour combinations © Nkosi Acquired Manzini Swaziland 2001 United Republic of Tanzania 59 Bora Umasikini Na Uhuru Kuliko Kuwa Tajiri Na Utumwa It is better to be poor and free than rich and in slavery Urafiki Tanzania Printed Khanga FTC Design No. 619 Acquired Dar es Salam Tanzania 2001 60 Unification of Pemba, Zanzibar and Tanzania Tumarishe Munngano kwa Manufaa Ya Watanzania Acquired Stone Town Zanzibar 2000 61 Baba wa Taifa 1922 – Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyere - 1999 The Father of the Nation Dumisheni Upendo Amani Utulivu Na Umoja Live together in peace, love and harmony Urafiki Tanzania Printed khanga FTC DES No. 136 Acquired Dar es Salam Tanzania 2003 62 UHURU 9 December 1961 Freedom (All is well) – Independence of Tanzania, 9 December 1961 Hongera Mwanangu Hongera Congratulations My Child. Urafiki Tanzania Printed Khanga FTC DES No. 142 Acquired Dar es Salam Tanzania 2001 63 Light bulbs Avani Export Designs No 1416 Acquired Dar es Salam Tanzania 2003 64 Siko Leo Imefika Sote Twasherehek The day has arrived and we are celebrating Acquired Dar es Salam Tanzania 2003 65 Cellular/mobile phone Acquired Dar es Salam Tanzania 2003
66 Tanzanian Flag Munggu Ibariki Tanzania na Watu Wake God Bless Tanzania and all its people VE Design No. Z03 On loan from Amina (Bilal) Hunt 67 Ari mpya Nguvu Mpya kasi Mpya New Change New Power New Energy Chagua CCM Chagua KIKWETE Vote for CCM Vote for KIKWETE On loan from Margaret Saira Republic of Tunisia (Al-Jamhuriya at-Tunisiya) 68 President Ben Ali With Ben Ali to build the glory of Tunisia Street dressing displayed throughout Tunisia October to November 2005 Commemorating 7 November 1987 bloodless coup that led to Ben Ali’s presidency 69 President Ben Ali Street bunting Acquired Jerba Island Tunisia 2005 Republic of Zambia 70 Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group Women in Zambia for equality and representation Millennium Challenges for Women Gift of Zambian member of Media Institute for Southern Africa, Lusaka Zambia 2002 71 Celebrating Zambia’s Freedom, Peace and Pride On loan from Clementina Mpundu Lwatula Aquired Lusaka Zambia 2005 The semi-autonomous Republic of Zanzibar within Tanzania 72 TANU ASP Ten Year Anniversary Usituonee Wivu Ni Bahati Yetu Don’t be jealous, it’s our luck Acquired Dar es Salam Tanzania 2001 73 Cellular (Mobile phone) Atlas Mama Africa 2623 Acquired Stone Town Zanzibar 2000 74 Namshukuru Mungu Kwa Kila Jambo I thank my god for everything Mali Ya Chavda Zanzibar Jayshri 6426 Chavdas Khanga - government recognised trading house Acquired Stone Town Zanzibar 1997 75 Napenda Kukuona Mpenzi Wangu Ni Furaha Ya Moyo Wangu I would like to see you my love...you are the joy of my heart. Mali Ya Chavda Zanzibar Jayshri 5260, Chavdas khanga Acquired Stone Town Zanzibar 2003
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76 Hiyo Shepu Ya Kabati Nani Utamsifiay Your body is shaped like a cupboard—who will please you? Mali Ya Chavda Zanzibar Jayshri 6384, Chavdas Khanga Acquired Stone Town Zanzibar 2003 77 Usisahau Ibada Remember to pray Prayer head cover for women at home On loan from Amina (Bilal) Hunt 78 Idd Mubarak Happy Ramadhan Prayer head cover for Ramadhan KH Design No. 81 Musoma Textile Mills Tanzania LTD On loan from Amina (Bilal) Hunt 79 Wedding cloth known as Kisutu Mali Ya Chayda-Zanzibar Nisan Design No. 5054 Acquired Zanzibar On loan from Amina (Bilal) Hunt Unknown origin, possibly Indian 80 Iron STC London Wax Prints No 1367 Associated object Flip top African iron Acquired Maputo Mozambique 2006
Notes on the works The Exhibition This catalogue complements a comprehensive set of didactic panels/labels which accompany each object in the exhibition. Due to the size of this exhibition some smaller venues may not exhibit the complete list of works. Measurements If required only measurements can be given for true khangas. Otherwise these manufactured cloths have been cut from a bolt to one, two or three blocks of the continuously repeated design. See page 26 for further details. New and old Most of these cloths are new, some have been worn and were first seen on the wearer. Tracey Naughton asked if she could replace with two lengths if the wearer/owner would give it her. In this case some cloths may be stained or contain small holes and look used. Washed and unwashed Khangas in particular change with washing. They become softer and thicken slightly.
Spelling Khanga and kanga are interchangeable. Both spellings are used widely.
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Participating contributors and organizations. Tracey Naughton Tracey Naughton’s career in creative arts, community development and communication spans electronic, textile and other media across several cultures and continents. She studied fine art and community development and holds a Masters in Social Research, (University of Johannesburg, South Africa 2000). Tracey went to South Africa by invitation following a media democracy conference (France, 1991) to join media activists running the Campaign for Open Broadcasting to replace the state controlled media monopoly there. In 1990 Tracey received a professional development grant from the Community Cultural Development Board of the Australia Council to research community television in Europe and the USA. This resulted in a lecture series (1992) designed to inspire a new system of broadcasting arranged by the Film and Allied Workers Organisation, South Africa. From 1989 to 1992 Tracey worked with Public Radio News in Melbourne (Community Aid Abroad - now OXFAM Australia) and with AusAID supporting the developing community radio sector in South Africa. From early 1993 she was stationed in COSATU House, Johannesburg (South African Federation of Trade Unions). Tracey and colleague Lumko Mtimde crafted the National Community Radio Forum (NCRF), an umbrella body for community media in South Africa. A young organization, in a rapidly changing national setting, it participated in the development of broadcast regulation for a transforming South Africa and gave skills and a voice to the voiceless majority. Tracey pioneered radio stations in many locations, including Soweto and Moutse an area consisting of forty six villages in Mpumalanga Province. Today the NCRF has over one hundred community radio station members. It continues to work on national policy and provides community media sector services. Whilst in Namibia (2000-2003) Tracey Naughton worked in global information areas and in media freedom, managing advocacy programs for legal reforms in eleven countries. In 2002 she was elected to chair the Media Caucus and convene the Civil Society Bureau of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). WSIS forged a new multi-stakeholder negotiation model within the UN that included NGOs along with Governments and the private sector. Joan G Winter Joan Winter has been a curator since 1980 when she researched and developed the first major exhibition on traditional weaving in Papua New Guinea, a landmark exhibition in that country. She was the foundation curator of the Port Phillip City Collection incorporating the St Kilda Collection, and the initiator of the Rupert Bunny Foundation, Melbourne. She is a former manager of the Bundaberg Arts Centre, Queensland; and curator of such highly successful exhibitions as the Queensland touring exhibition, Fiona Foley Invisible Voices and the national touring exhibition Native Title Business Contemporary Indigenous Art. Her areas of most interest are Australian Indigenous art and Indigenous textiles of all types and how these relate to cultural contact and cross cultural education and understanding. Joan’s next major project after Walala Wasala will be TAPA Polynesian and Melanesian Bark Cloth in Queensland, another Australian national travelling exhibition. Joan Winter has travelled widely including West Africa and many island nations in the Pacific. She works as a freelance curator, writer,
editor and visual arts project manager under her business name Baboa Arts Consultancy. Chris Kirchhoff Chris Kirchhoff is a well travelled photographer, exploring destinations such as Antarctica, Mongolia and recently Lake Victoria in Uganda where he propelled himself around the lake in a canoe by creating a sail from a home made kite. During the last twenty years he has led and been involved in many expeditions to remote parts of Africa including first descents of rivers. His passion for cultural documentation has included photographic series on ceremonies Christmas in the rock churches of Ethiopia, Easter in the hills of KwaZulu Natal, initiation ceremonies and Sangoma (traditional healers) graduations. His photographic aesthetic incorporates his skill as a professional land surveyor with the heart of an explorer. With a commitment to advocacy work Chris is often commissioned by NGOs to conduct visual research into land rights, the use of information and communication technology and HIV/AIDS. He teaches photography to HIV positive people in Johannesburg to facilitate their personal expressions on living positively. Chris is currently a photo-correspondent for various international publications which include the Chicago Tribune, Time Magazine, The Times of London and Sunday Times, South Africa. He has been commissioned for various editions of The Rhodes Review, Rhodes University South Africa and new school text books that reflect the lives of rural South Africans from a post-Apartheid perspective. His work has been exhibited in Europe and South Africa. It may be viewed at www.kirchhoff.co.za Dr David Dorward David Dorward is the foundation Director of the African Research Institute at LaTrobe University, Melbourne. As a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in 1962, he taught Islamic history in what was then Kano Emirate in northern Nigeria, and fell in love with the people, the culture, music and art. He did his doctorate in 1971 at The School of Oriental and African Studies , University of London, on the Tiv of central Nigeria. He then worked amongst the Mada, Eggon and Hausa of Nigeria. He taught at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, and at the Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham (UK), before coming to Australia in 1977. He has travelled extensively in Africa and is currently engaged in research on both Somalia and Ghana. Dr Dorward is a past president of the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific, a consultant to the Museum of Victoria, member of the Royal African Society, the British Institute in Eastern Africa and the African Studies Association of the United Kingdom. He is a valuer of African art under the Commonwealth Cultural Gifts Program and has worked on most of the major public collections of African art in Australia and New Zealand. He has served as a consultant and expert witness in African refugee cases before the Commonwealth Refugee Review Tribunal. David Dorward will be retiring at the end of 2006, after a lifetime of engagement with Africa. He will continue to research and write.
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The African Research Institute at LaTrobe University The African Research Institute at LaTrobe University was founded in 1985 to serve as a focus for African Studies in Australia. The Institute played a key role in the formative years of the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific, hosting numerous conferences, as well as public addresses by major African dignitaries Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Cyril Ramaphosa, Robert Mugabe and others. It maintains a program of staff and postgraduate research, both on issues relating to Africa and Africans in Australia, and an on-going seminar series and provides a forum where members of the African communities in Victoria can debate issues of relevance to them. It provides informed commentary on ever changing events in Africa to the media, trade unions, the corporate sector and government departments. The Borchardt Library at LaTrobe University houses the most extensive collection of monographs, journals and research materials on Africa in Australia. Annerley and District Community Centre Inc. Annerley and District Community Centre Inc. (ADCC) was established in 1995 in response to the growing needs of the multicultural community of the Stephens district and as a meeting place for diverse groups. Johnson Oyelodi was instrumental in campaigning for the needs of the growing African community and ADCC quickly became known as
These Swazi young women are attendees at the Reed Dance (2005) held annually in September when the maidens of the country gather to cut the first reeds of the season for the Queen’s palace.They are wearing examples one of the Swazi sitengis in The Naughton Collection.
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the home of the Africans in Brisbane. African members and clients of ADCC continue to increase in line with the increased numbers of refugees and other migrants. ADCC, which is co-located with the African Australian Association of Queensland, provides immigration and sponsorship support as well as settlement support to newly arrived refugees and other African migrants. Over its ten year history, the Community Centre has provided programs directly related to the needs of refugees, from nutrition and employment programs to computer training. It provides an important venue for African groups to meet including: African Australian Association of Queensland, Abyei Community Assoc., African Women’s Network, African Youth - Sudanese, African Cultural Group, African Drumming Group, Club Africa, Dinka Community Association, Eastern, Central and Southern African, Association of Queensland, Western Baher el Gazal Community Association, Equatoria Association of QLD- Sudanese Group Eritrean Association, Eritrean Women’s Family Support Network Ethiopian Association, Ethiopian Cultural Club, Ghana Association of Queensland, Ghana Cultural Group, Horn of Africa Social and Support Group, Christian Fellowship, Liberian Association of Queensland, Nigerian Association of Queensland, Rwandan Association of Queensland, Sierra Leone Descendants Association of Queensland Sierra Leone Women’s Group, Sudanese Community Association of Queensland, Sudanese Community SPLM, Sudanese Christian Fellowship, Sudanese Cultural Group, Sudanese Friendship Group Sudanese Nile, Sudanese Women, Sudanese Youth Association of Queensland and Upper Nile Women’s Group.
Acknowledgements This unusual exhibition owes much to the efforts of many volunteers, both in Africa and Australia, who gave their time freely because they believed in the project. AFRICA Contributors to the Tracey Naughton African Textile Collection and fellow travellers: Lancelot Zuma, Chris Kirchhoff, Hugh Fraser, Mandy Press and Gerry Morris, Farida Nyamachumbe, Lance Gewer, Heather Dugmore, Clive Fynn, Cathy Dean, Grace Githaiga, Collin Bogaars, Nikki Marcel, Brigit Hilton-Barber, Peter Kirchhoff, Jodie McAlister, Maxine Brett, Professor Kwami Kari Kari, Brian Muletambo Lingela, Anu Pekkonen, Ingrid Thunegard and Caroline Maher. Embroidered Leadership Banners: Beading assistance, encouragement and orientation to the way the leaders are viewed by local citizens: Estah Mamba, informal trader from Swaziland, sells handicrafts and makes beadwork on Jeppe Street, Johannesburg Martha Matlala, National Chairperson Rural Women’s Movement of South Africa, now local government councillor in Limpopo province of South Africa Lena Cloete, brilliant domestic worker and incredible sewer, Windhoek Namibia Gloria Pakwe domestic worker and great sewer, also assisted with ironing Johannesburg South Africa. Illustrations and information sources: Helen Bester, Marketing Manger, da Gama Textiles, Zwelitsha South Africa Haria, Khanga trader, Nairobi, Kenya; Jeannette Hanby and David Bygott, author & illustrator Khangas: 101 Uses, Tanzania, Arizona; Solly Jassat, Style Fabrics, Oriental Plaza, Johannesburg; Ismail, Minty’s Departmental Store, Johannesburg; Rev. Joseph G. Healey, M.M., publisher 436 khanga sayings; Vali Momad Bachir, Groupo MBS Maputo, Mozambique Translations: Portuguese - Rui Correia, Advocacy, Media and Language Consultant, southern Africa, kiSwahili - Farida Nyamachumbe, Zanzibar; French - Nnenna Nwakanma, Côte d’Ivoire Photography: Chris Kirchhoff www.kirchhoff.co.za Assisted by Brian S. Jenda & Robert R. Phiri AUSTRALIA The Annerley and District Community Centre Management Committee: Johnson Oyelodi, President; Gloria Sowah, Secretary; Albert Doe-Nunneh, Treasurer; Aster Gidey, Adelaida Douglas, John Krakue, Chuol Rambang, Richard Shepherd and Victor Titoung and members. Zenzele Gumede, Dr. Mudenda Rita Bridgwood, Aminah Bilal Hunt and family, Margaret Saira, Clementina Mpundu lwatula, Esther Kambamba and Martin Mhando. Salome Swan, Fiona Marshall, Elena Maretto Figueiredo, Mandy Press and Gerry Morris. With particular thanks to Keith Richardson of Manson Framers.
Above: Estah Mamba embroidered The Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi Banner with Tracey Naughton. She is a bead maker and one of the many contributors to this exhibition. Family group: Market day at Nhaulanga village, Gorongosa Mozambique
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African countries represented in this exhibition
Tunisia
Mediterranean Sea
Sudan
Nigeria Ghana
Gulf of Guinea Kenya
Zanzibar
Tanzania
ATLANTIC OCEAN
Malawi
Zambia
Namibia
M
Zimbabwe Botswana
Swaziland South Africa
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ue
biq
m oza
Lesotho
INDIAN OCEAN