Our friends at House of African Art (Japan) posted about this Kanga Cloth exhibition at the Ancient Orient Museum in Ikebukuro.

On East Africa’s coast facing the Indian Ocean, trade occurred with Persians and Arabs for a centuries. As a result, Swahili’s unique culture which was based on contact with Islam was born. One item that symbolizes the Swahili culture is a cloth piece called ‘Kanga’. It not only features beautiful and strong designs, there are also ‘sayings’ or proverbs printed in Swahili. It has since become an important decision criteria for women to buy.

In this exhibition, Kanga’s variety of designs and how it contributed to how women identified themselves over centuries is explored.

May 25 – June 30,  2013

Venue: Ancient Orient Museum planning small exhibition room

Opening hours: 10:00 to 17:00 (admission until 16:30)

Sunshine City Bunka-Kaikan 7th floor, 3-1-4 Higashi-Ikebukuro,
Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170-8630 JAPAN
TEL: +81-3-3989-3491
　　FAX: +81-3-3590-3266
e-mail: museum●orientmuseum.com
　(replace ● with @)