The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design without End

On October 1st, 2008, The Metropolitan Museum of Art held the opening reception for the exhibition, The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design without End. The myriad distinctive regional traditions represented in this exhibition included the expansive monumental wool and cotton strip-woven architectural elements created in Mali and Niger; a rich range of deep blue indigo, resist-dyed textile genres produced in Senegal, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon; textile panels composed and woven by Igbo women and Yoruba men in Nigeria, to be wrapped around the body as apparel; and a series of impressive voluminous robes and tunics that have been designed from regional fabrics from Algeria to Nigeria. This exhibition was on display from September 30, 2008 to March 22, 2009.

Read more about this exhibition here.

Read the catalog that accompanies the exhibition here.