Kuba Kingdom: A 16th-Century Migratory Expansion - Research Paper

Introduction

The Kuba community migrated during the 16th century to settle in the equatorial forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo that is surrounded by rivers Sankuru and Kasai. The Kuba people absorbed the Twa community that had already settled around the regions of Sankuru to form a vast and durable kingdom consisting of 19 ethnic groups. The Kuba imported crops and acquired technology and new leadership styles that helped them conquer over the neighboring communities, thus increasing their stability and wealth. However, some of the ethnic groups have retained their distinctive cultural practices. Since the Kuba people were isolated, they did not suffer the ongoing slave trade during the year 1884 like their surrounding communities and thus rose to their heights during the mid-19th century. The ethnic groups of the Kuba people acknowledge nyim as their leader and consist of Ngeende, Kel, Bushoong, Shoowa, Maluk, Kaam, Ngoome Kayuweeng, Bulaang, Pyaang, Idiing, Ilebo, Ngongo, Bokila, and Bieeng. The King of the Kuba community is Bushoong with all the ethnic groups having a representative at the Bushoong court. The Kuba people enjoyed and consumed the fish from the two surrounding rivers of Sankuru and Kasai. The Kuba also practiced a little agriculture by planting cassava and maize that they imported from the new world. The Kuba was also famous for weaving beautiful clothes such as raffia that were traded with the neighboring communities.

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The Kuba believe that the world was created by Bumba who in turn appointed and ordained Bushoong to rule over the community. However, Kuba does not worship Bumba who they regard as their creator. Kuba still practices divination and ancestral worship to establish the causes of evil in society. Success primarily through activities such as hunting is always attributed to the gods and recognized as gifts. The Kuba community respects dogs because they believe that they carry the will of the gods, and this is evidenced by the diviners who carve wooden hunting dogs as oracles.

The political stability and effective use of natural resources by the Kuba people enhanced the creativity and artistic innovation. The ruling class of the Kuba community demanded the local artisans to produce innovative items that they could display. The royal families considered objects such as embroidered textiles, containers, wooden cups, beaded hats and fiber as ornate and beautiful. The Kuba kings facilitated the artistic growth and innovation because they insisted on wearing designed costumes produced from prestigious materials and natural objects in the form of feathers and animal skins that they wore during court ceremonies. During the 17th century, King Mishe miShyaang introduced the wood sculpture known as ndop. The statue represented the kings' reign and historical moments, and they were preserved at the court. The Kuba community appreciated the artistic innovation and balanced it with the continuity and traditions passing it from one generation to the other. For instance, the red basket was considered an object that was full of knowledge according to the myths of Kuba community.

The Visual Legacy of Kuba

The Kuba people are recognized for their essential textile tradition that is ingrained in their culture, rituals and artistic innovation. They are commonly referred to as the people of the cloth, the people of the lightning, and the people of the King. They are known as the people of the lighting because of their abilities in throwing bladed ritualistic knives. The Kuba derive their name as the people of the king because they have managed to remain loyal under one leadership for over 400 years. However, they are known as the Bambala or the people of the cloth because of their visual legacy in textile arts. The Kuba people have astonishing customs in terms of clothing and ceremonial costumes. The Kuba people use clothing as a form of social wealth or a form of currency in the form of woven currency. The king's palace is always decorated with well-woven plains made from raffia.

The textile art in Kuba community represents the imaginative, dynamic, and versatile nature of visual expression. The Kuba use textiles as a form of communication to portray who they are in society. According to the Kuba, getting dressed entails personal tastes and preferences, representing who you are and elaborating where you come from and where you are headed. The use of textile among the Kuba people signifies the social status. Ethnicity, and lineage. Different ethnic groups and personality in the society are identified by the refined differences in pattern, color, embroidery, texture, and how the pieces are layered.

Kuba textile comes from raffia which is a palm fiber. Raffia is used to in woven fabric, baskets, masks, headwear and even the walls at homes. Raffia represents both the physical and spiritual resource of the Kuba people. Kuba people associate raffia with the thread that links life top death and the spirit of the rituals. Raffia is essential during rites of passage and ceremonies because the Kuba people associate the textile with a variety of routines. Kuba dresses their dead before burial in the best attire because they believe textile and clothing depicts the real personality of an individual. The art of textile weaving is one of the oldest crafts in history representing the creation of cloth as one of the most enduring human creativity. Textile weaving began as a pure necessity and quickly it turned to a need to use fabric to express cultural practices such as marital status, religious beliefs, and wealth.

The Kuba people weave their textiles from Raffia vinifera palm and thus the reason why the Kuba cloth are referred to as raffia cloth. A stripping comb or hand strip the fibers from the raffia palm before any production is done. The threads are then woven into original cloth with a unique Kuba heddle loom that is placed facing the weaver tilted at a forty-five-degree angle. After spinning, the cloths are then dyed softening the fabric. The Kuba people assign weaving duties to both men and women. The men are responsible for dyeing the cloth while the women are tasked with embroidering and connecting the small pieces to produce a complete finished product.

The weaving of raffia is traced back to the Kingdom of Kongo at the entrance of Zaire. The Kuba adopted this style in the 17th and 18th century. The Kuba produce raffia cloth from cultivated palm trees and then use the outer leaves to prepare fronds. Men are responsible for weaving the white fibers in rectangular sizes of two foot by two foot. The color of raffia changes to light tan after it has dried. Men add the natural effects to the textiles while the women are responsible for creating geometric expressions and rectilinear that defines the cloth. The geometric expressions are added through the art of embroidery or the use of plush motifs. Plush motifs are decorations created through the use of parallel lines. Patterns can also be broken through the use of different elements or increase or decrease of thickness. The raffia cloth was used for legal settlements of as a trade of currency, which gave rise to the name of bambala or the people of the cloth.

The Kuba people have more than 200 recognized and named patterns, and it is hectic to study all the models and their techniques. Each pattern was called according to the tribe spoken and the significance or popularity of the pattern. Common patterns among the majority of the tribes received the same name from all the tribes. For instance, the Bushoong tribe differentiates its patterns from other tribes because their patterns are regular, and this regularity signifies power and personal characteristics. The patterns were named after the creators of the pattern, significant parts of objects, or according to the activity of the object.

Some of the techniques used by the Kuba people in textile art include applique, dyeing, embroidery, and patchwork. Embroidery involves cut pile, open work, and uncut techniques. The applique method consists of adding pieces of fabric to cloth to create the desired pattern. Patchwork, on the other hand, involves cutting pieces of the base cloth to create a specific pattern and then the gaps are filled with fabric that represents the shapes of the missing parts. The Kuba people invented the patching technique to avoid the tearing caused to the fragile fabric. Patching became an art in itself when different meanings were attributed to the shapes of the patches. The Kuba fabrics are dyed by adjoining both the dyed and undyed fabrics together. The patterns designed in Kuba clothes heavily reflect their religious practices. For instance, the Kuba regard themselves as the children of Woot, the supernatural being who was the son of Bumba, the creator. Woot was responsible for teaching the Kuba people the art of weaving. Some of the common patterns among the Kuba community are the "L," "V," and "Y" pattern which links humanity to nature.

The Kuba woven textiles can either be flexible in form or traditionally rigid. The Kuba people name some of the ordinary and fashionable designs and pass them from one generation to the other. These patterns are more than 200, with the creators of the patterns honored accordingly. The patterns are essential because they represent an essential place, action, or item. Panel grouping among the Kuba people is not usually uniform because the panels with different finishing techniques are woven together to produce desired patterns. The stitching of the panels and grouping of patterns, especially for the traditional long skirts is always overseen by a group of women led by a leader. The leader dictates the patterns and colors and inspects each panel. The leader is further responsible for joining the groups to form a complete garment.

The designs are either stitched, or the backing of the raffia appliqued with serpentine cutouts. The garments are about 20 feet tall intended to be worn as skirts by both sexes, while the two feet sizes are hung as display behind the royal throne. The oldest pieces of the Kuba textiles indicate the designs were simple with subtle design. However, with time, the parts were designed with different colors and patterns. The ruling parties and ceremonies had a sense of a runway showdown with the elite class showcasing their patterns and impressive garments. The designs were meant to conspicuous from a distance capturing the eye with the best designs reserved for the kings. The models gained more value when they were used to visualize power and authority because the elites insisted on patterns that made them look bold and powerful.

The value and beauty of Kuba textiles are evidenced in the major exhibitions all over the world. The Kuba artisans were also driven by the market demand to produce much more prominent and bolder designs. The Kuba artists displayed quality and attention to detail in their products that was appreciated by both the Kuba community and audiences from all over the world. The Kuba textiles still follow some of the significant historical designs and patterns. The Kuba fashion is linked to social status and authority, and that is why the motifs and patterns were extraordinarily bold and conspicuous.

The Kuba people have specific meanings and great importance to the geometric patterns in their textiles. An extra effort is always put on the textiles during embroidery to depict the royalty of the wearers. The levels of patterns and details reveal and portray the status of a person in society. Fabric is produced from the inner bark of trees and is used to make bark cloth worn by the social elite. The Kuba patterns also represent the social, economic status, religion, and unity in society. Today, the patterns do not hold much sign...