The people who live in the equatorial forests of Central Africa have a unique sense of artistry in their textiles and music.
These people, although once all defined as “Pygmy”, a pejorative term that is no longer used, have a strong connection to their forest home and make use of its resources to create, amongst others, textiles and music. This website, made by Italian writer and anthropologist, Luis Devin, is a fascinating glimpse into this world.
The music of the Aka from the Central African Republic is so important to the continuation of the people that it is inscribed into UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. You can hear more of this fascinating music on YouTube here.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo the Ituri make barkcloth – known as tapa in the Pacific – from ficus (fig) bark. In this case it is men who make the cloth and women who paint it. This website has examples of some of these cloths and the Musee de Quai Branly in Paris has this collection of cloths from the Mbuti of the Congo basin.
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One response to “The artistry of Africa’s forest dwellers”
What a wonderful sound. Reminds me of making a “wumping” sound with a cupped hand banging on the water as a child but never thinking of it as music.