African Portrait Cloth

Kanga, (East Africa), or pagne, (West and Central Africa) are the roughly 5 ft. long, rectangular, printed textiles used for everything from wrapping one’s head to carrying a baby. The pictorial fabric, which also traditionally include text, are often printed to commemorate a specific event--funeral, political campaign, visit by a world leader—in which case one or multiple portraits are incorporated into the design.

Long Live the President! Portrait Cloths from Africa, at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, has over 100 examples on display to August 29, 2010. To learn more about these cloths that are such an important part of African textile culture, visit Adire African Textiles online. There, you can view much of the collection from which many of the exhibit's pieces are on loan. Find additional information about kanga here, here, and here.

"Amitié Franco Gabonaise," “Franco-Gabonese friendship,” is printed beneath portraits of President Georges Pompidou and President Omar Bongo on the occasion of Pompidou’s visit to Gabon in February 1971.



Ahmadou Ahidjo, President of Cameroun, 1960-1982.
Two cloths: top, circa 1963, bottom, circa 1970.


Abdoul Diouf , President of Senegal, 1981-2000.
Cloth is from the election year, 1983.


Albert-Bernard Omar Bongo, President of Gabon for 42 years,
1967-2009, when he died in office. Cloth dates from 1971.


Funerary cloth for Marien N'gouabi, President of
Congo (Brazzaville) from 1969 to 1977.


Francois Tombalbaye, President of Chad
from 1960 to 1975. Cloth is circa 1970.


Leopold Sedar Senghor, President of Senegal, 1960-80.
Cloth marked his 90th birthday in 1996.


Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire, 1965-97.
Cloth is circa 1992.


25th anniversary of the death of Thomas Moulero, 1888-1975,
first priest of Dahomey (Benin), 2000.

Nelson Mandela, South Africa, in 2001.

Michael Jackson, Tanzania, 2009.

Pope John Paul II's visit to Benin in 1993

Masai women wearing Barack Obama kanga, 2009.


Kanga for Bush's visit to Tanzania in 2008. (via D.C. Diary)

Photos from Tropenmuseum and Adire African Textiles.

Missoni Beach Towels

I’m so glad these Missoni beach towels are $195 each (at Barneys). Otherwise I’d be spending all sorts of time trying to decide which one to buy.






I found some images of them open. I'm thinking Italian, terry-cloth, sarape/ikat/Navajo blankets.

Drumroll For My Blogroll

As I am finally getting my blogroll together, a peek at a few of these visual bloggers who will now be just a click away.

A Journey Round My Skull
Strange, odd, illustration from obscure, far away places. What more could you want? Here's how Will describes his blog:

Unhealthy book fetishism from a reader, collector, and amateur historian of forgotten literature. Recent obsessions: illustration and graphic design.

llustration by Alexander Alexeieff, 1929
Fluxus postcard, ‘Men are cheeky but
MONSTERS ARE INOFFENSIVE,’ 1967


The Unknown Hipster
Not unknown to us. Who better to visually eavesdrop on Larry Gagosian and Mick Jagger at a Damien Hirst opening than Jean-Philippe Delhomme?




The Textile Blog
From the U.K. Just like the name says—plus links to every important textile resource out there.Ann Macbeth rug design, 1905
Textile by Scandinavian Modernist, Sven Markelius, 1958
Mbuti barkcloth



Bibliodyssey
You’ll only find it here, if it is old, printed, and truly remarkable.
Croatian genealogical book, 1740
Cutaway of a French nuclear power station, June 1978


Ace Jet 170
Belfast based graphic designer Richard Weston is impressively tuned into the nuances of print Here’s what he writes about Read Better, Read Faster.

No design credit, and some might claim to understand why, but I think there's an unsung hero at work on this sublimely balanced cover from 1976. Take that finger, for example (photo-credited to John Hybert by the way); positioned one third in. Now, you're telling me that's by accident?

...and wonderful found type.






Nothing is New
No one knows her way around the archives like Kelly Rakowski. She has been a huge inspiration for many of my far flung virtual adventures.
Members of the Western Massachusetts commune, Brotherhood of the Spirit, in the mid 1970s.



Grain edit
Frankly, I don’t know why the rest of us bother to post vintage graphics. Chances are anything cool from the 1950s-70s has been posted here already by Dave C + Elizabeth Surya’s crack team.




Little Augury
An aesthete of the highest order, Little Augury is a devotee of devastating beauty and high style, wherever it may be found, be it antique aristocratic elegance, black & white glamour, or uber-class decadence of a bygone era. Only the most rarified of today’s tastemakers make it onto the radar of this blogging interior designer.
Ivory Objects on an 18th century English lacquer desk.
Lady Ottoline Morrell
Incredible hair by Marisol Suarez
Lee Radziwill in one of the most famous of all the
Indian chintz tented rooms designed by Renzo Mongiardino



Manystuff
Contemporary graphic design blog by Paris-based Charlotte Cheetham. Offshoot projects, publications and exhibitions have been developed from this blog.




Words and Eggs
Lots of vintage goodness.






AisleOne
"An inspirational resource focused on graphic design, typography, grid systems, minimalism and modernism."
Album covers by Josef Albers.
2010 calendar poster by This Studio.
War Design packaging for adhesive manufacturer, Construction Technologies Australia.