Existing comment:
Independent.
Strike a fashionable blow for freedom
This work features the official portrait of Kwame Nkrumah, the first leader of independent Ghana. Although Nkrumah was not Asante, he chose to wear the red, yellow, and green colors -- associated with both Asante kente cloth, worn widely in Ghana, and with unconquered Ethiopia -- as a symbol of his leadership and pan-African pride.
European traders introduced factory-printed cloths to African markets in the 19th century. Early fabrics were based on Indonesian batiks. As advancements in photographic reproduction developed, portraits began to appear on cloth. Known as "fancy" cloths, these printed textiles became very popular in the 1950s and 1960s, when many African nations attained independence, and remain important historical documents of an era filled with new possibilities.
Due to the light sensitivity of fabric, the selections in this case will be rotated with works depicting further African independence leaders approximately every six months. |