I had chanced upon this cloth at a local exhibition here, they looked rustic, intricate and were being sold by artisan from Congo. They didn’t understand a word of English. Interpreters provided by the Embassy were able to tell the price of each through translation and nothing beyond. With my textile fund budget exhausted, I let go of it and providentially maybe will find another opportunity to get it. I shot several photographs and it lay on my laptop, till research revealed it was the venerable Kuba cloth. Kuba cloth is a woven tradition of the Kuba people of Democratic Republic of Congo formerly Zaire. There are over 18 ethnic groups who weave Kuba cloth. Woven out of Raffia, the fibre of the Raphia Vinifera Palm, the process is time consuming. The weaving is done by the men while the embroidery or embellishment is carried out by the women. The process involves preparing the fibre, dying it using natural colours, weaving the basic cloth, embellishing the woven cloth with embro...