Images of Power: African Presidents on Printed Fabrics

"Fancy print" textiles produced in Europe for the markets of colonial Africa emerged in the 1920s as a cheaper substitute for so-called "Dutch wax" resin-resist prints. Although they were of lower quality and the design was only on one face, they had one distinct advantage which soon opened up a new range of decorative possibilities and hence a novel social role. Unlike wax prints, the technology of fancy prints allowed for the reproduction of photographic imagery. Very quickly the technique was adopted to produce what have become known as commemorative cloths. At first these were for funerary uses, hardly surprising given the importance of funerary ceremonies in the Gold Coast (present day Ghana), where a 1928 sample in the archives of the United Africa Company shows a woman, presumably a wealthy market trader, named only as "Mammy," while another from 1931 showed a then deceased Ewe chief. However there is also a cloth believed to date to the 1930s that shows Kojo Thompson, a prominent campaigner for independence (Picton 2001:161.) Other cloths commemorated specific events such as a visit to the Gold Coast by the Prince of Wales. 

In many parts of Africa there is a long tradition of leaders, chiefs and "big" men and women distributing cloth to their followers. The new leaders of independent Africa in the 1960s were quick to adopt the medium of fancy printed cloths to promote themselves within the expectations framed by these traditions. Cloths were printed at government expense and distributed free or at subsidised prices via market women either to promote specific events, political campaigns, or as part of a more general policy of self-promotion. Wearing such a cloth was often advisable as an outwardly visible expression of allegiance to the ruling powers whatever the wearer's actual sentiments. 

The cloths displayed here are part of a private collection focused on Francophone African countries. No doubt interesting parallels and differences could be found in a comparative study of commemorative cloths from other areas of Africa.  The collector, M. Bernard Collet would like to hear from others who share his interest in these remarkable textiles