Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt

Nineteen peoples, one king, and a taste for textiles. The Kuba kingdom was formed that way in the 17th century.

This is a tcaka, a dance skirt, made by the Kuba in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 20th century. Skirts like it were wrapped around the body many times for dance and ceremony. This one runs nearly twenty-five feet. Imagine unwinding it.

Soft vertical stripes of mauve, plum and cream fill the center, overlaid with a diagonal lattice of small cowrie shells. A black-and-cream checkerboard border runs along each edge, finished with tufted raffia trim.

It is mostly length. Allow for that.