Kanga

Textiles

1945

Kenya

This kanga is a commemoration of the British Empire’s campaign in East Africa during World War II, some of which took part in Kenya. It celebrates the first Allied strategic victory in the battle against Italy and its colony of Italian East Africa. The Italian defeat eased the flow of supplies through the Red Sea to Egypt. The intentionally curved sides of the cloth emulate a sail taken up by the wind.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Title: Kanga
Place: Kenya (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1945
Medium: Cotton, plain weave; printed; both selvages present
Inscriptions: Ahsante Bwana Churchill [Thank you Mr. Churchill] (in Kiswahili, written in Roman script; printed in black, within rectangle at lower center)
Dimensions: 109.2 × 151.1 cm (43 × 59 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Vedder and Price Fund
Reference Number: 2022.1488

Mark Eveleigh, “The African Kanga: A traditional form of ‘African Twitter’” in Ngaali Inflight Magazine, 2021 (object mentioned, not illustrated) https://ngaaliinflightmag.com/the-african-kanga-a-traditional-form-of-african-twitter/

National Museum of Zanzibar, Beit al Ajaib (House of Wonders), Kanga, Sept. 24, 2004-12, no cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa rotation, Gallery 137, Oct. 11, 2022-May 23, 2023.

Farouque Abdela, Zanzibar, Tanzania, by 1990 [correspondence from F. Abdela, Sept. 2022; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2022.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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