Kanga, printed cloth with a proverb
Kanga, tela estampada con proverbio
- Date
- c. 1880 · confidence low
- Place
- Mombasa, Mombasa County, Kenya
- Credited to
- Swahili women and coastal traders
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A rectangle of printed cotton, with a border and a proverb (jina) written in Swahili, which women of the East African coast use as clothing and as a message. It is thought to have started by sewing together imported printed handkerchiefs (leso) in sheets of six.
The exact origin (Zanzibar, Mombasa or Lamu, c. 1870-1890) is debated; the use of printed proverbs is documented from c. 1900.
What it led to
- a public language of Swahili-coast women
- the textile industry of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa
- a medium for political campaigns since independence