African fashion from East Africa

The Kanga (also spelled khanga) is a about 1 meter wide and 1,5 meter long piece of textile, which i used mainly in Kenya and Tanzania as garment, for carrying babies etc. The Kanga is of cotton and is printed using the silkscreen teknique with a frame.There is also often a slogan or proverb printed on the textile. The Kanga is easy to fold, tie and wind.

In the middle of the 19th century Zanzibar was ruled by Said bin Sultan from Oman. He introduced the cultivation of cloves, still one of the most important crops of the island. During the 18th and 19th century Zanzibar was the most important slave market in the region, but became also the departure point for regular trade caravans deeper and deeper into East Africa. There was an abundance of imported goods in the bazaars. Textiles were imported from India, the Far East and Europe.
The Portuguese contributed with printed textiles to be used as shawls. They came in 0.50 meters wide rolls with squarish patterns. Normally you would cut off one square and sell it, but some women bought six squares instead, cut it in two pieces and sew them together to get new patterns.The new patterns reminded of the plumage of the speckled guinea fowl. In Swahili, the word kanga means precisely that: guinea fowl.

"My eyes tell you all"

In the beginning of the 20th century the trader Kaderdina Hajee Essak in Mombasa, often called Abdullah, got the idea of printing texts on the textiles, preferably proverbs from the rich Swahili cultural heritage. His textiles, which carried the trade mark "K.H.E.-Mali ya Abdullah", quickly created a new fashion, which lasts up till today.
The texts are in Swahili, which is spoken by 50 to 100 million persons in East Africa and Central Africa. It is the official language in Kenya and Tanzania (a union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika). The words on the kangas can often - if not just being printed for a jubilee or being political or religious slogans - have a double meaning. With a kanga you can indirectly say what you want to your neighbour, rival or others.

* The text on the kanga to the right: "I don't say anything to you, I let my eyes tell you" (For sale in our webshop)

Source: "Textil i Afrika" by Erik Cardfelt, Karin Olsson. Published by Afrikagrupperna 1997.

The book is for sale in out webshop, but is only in SWEDISH.

How to tie a kanga

Every kanga has a story to tell
Read about Anna, Hjordis, Imma and Karin and their relation to the kanga!

Swahili language and culture: more about the kanga

Swahili in a nutshell

The kanga in sorrow and happiness

Read about Imma s and Karin s journey to Imma s home and how you can use a kanga!

Our producers: Urafiki, Karibu Textile Mills

Watatu Textil HB 2006

"A wife is a fruit
to take well care
of"
Photo: Konny Domnauer

Ny bok: "Kanga - The Cloth That Speaks"