Woven sculptural piece as added dimension to textile design

Abstract

Cane and Raffia are fibers which constitute vital parts of our material culture. There is a renewed manifestation of ingenuity by our local craftsmen in their deployment of these abundant raw materials within their reach. Various fibers are unique and resilient, with dynamic and expressive qualities. The ubiquitous use of cane and Raffia as sculpture materials, undoubtebly reveals, more fundamentally, the African environment as a repertoire of unexploited raw materials. Woven Textile Sculpture in African Arts has been treated with increasing attention pointing mainly to cultural significance, historic change, economic production, and distribution. The main thrust of this study, therefore, is to appraise the visual representation of textile sculpture through weaving and likewise study the materials used in terms of pliability, flexibility, durability, strength, and other artistic qualities. This study is an exposition on the processes involved in turning cane and raffia into durable, adorable objects of art, beauty and fashion. This is a creative adaptation to replace iron rods usually used by textile artists. It is a step forward in the usage of other possibilities to make textile arts more acceptable and enterprising as a discipline. This study has explored various techniques with particular intellectual dispositions that will enable us to interpret them in the way we choose and likewise document the experience and tradition for prosperity. However, if adequate attention is given to it, it can be combined with other textile materials, independently to create desirable design, which can compete favorably in the international textile and arts market.

Keywords: Cane, Raffia, Woven Textile Sculpture, Adaptation, Textile Artist