For the Mbuti, identity is defined by the environment in which they live. As one of the few pygmy tribes of the Ituri Rainforest (in the NE region of the Democratic Republic of Congo), the Mbuti draw inspiration from the nature surrounding them. Both Mbuti mythology and design are indicative of the all-encompassing influence of the flora and fauna found in the rainforest. Khonvoum, the supreme deity of the tribe, is a hunter by day (wielding a bow of two snakes) and gatherer by night (collecting fragments of starts to feed the sun). The dualism of Khonvoum parallels the dualistic lifestyle of the Mbuti as a hunter-gatherer society. While Mbuti men hunt, the women and children forage from the surrounding forest.

The sexes are also divided in the collective production and design of their traditional tree-bark cloth. Women initiate the process by choosing the trees to be used, but men are responsible for the preparation of the cloth. Mbuti men strip the bark, utilizing "the inner skin found between the sap and the bark of the tree," called the bast. The fibrous bast is then whetted, hammered on a cut branch with an elephant tusk hammer, and left to dry on the roof of a hut. As the process is repeated the bast becomes a "resistant and supple" fabric. Each cloth is unique and fragile due to the labor intensive production. If hammered too hard a finished cloth will not absorb the dye (due to the thinness) or even break before use.

The dyeing process is almost an exclusively feminine activity in the Mbuti tribe, and is seen as "a pleasurable activity preceding a convivial gathering." The non-obligatory nature of the process is reflected in the highly varied creation of designs and dyeing processes. Mbuti women create designs in two ways: the use of stamps to create an entirely uniform composition, or the drawing-on with the finger or a twig. Each dye is created using flowers that are proximate to the Mbuti. The opaque blue-black dye prominent on most tree-bark cloths is created from the gardenia flower, thickened with charcoal and suspended in sap. The women artisans use both additive and subtractive processes when dyeing tree-bark cloth. The additive process involves the use of the cloth as a canvas upon which dye is applied to create a positive design against the negative space of the background white. In the subtractive process, the entire cloth is dyed and a design is created when the dyeing agent is removed, leaving the design in the negative undyed space of the cloth.

On the surface, the Mbuti tree-bark cloth is beautifully designed with stylized and abstracted organic patterns. The utilization of the rich black dye as the most prominent coloring of the cloth clearly delineates the repeated design from the undyed negative ground space. While remaining highly stylized in composition and rhythmic in design, the Mbuti tree-bark cloth remains representative. Each cloth represents the plant life surrounding the community through these abstractions meant to be recognizable only to the Mbuti tribe. The repetition and rhythm of the tree-bark cloth design then becomes a manifestation of the organic repetition found in nature.

Paul Klee described tribal peoples as having "the power to see… the forms that they derive from this are for me reconfirmations of the most valuable kind." When compared to a Klee work, such as Pastorale (1927), the skill of the Mbuti as designers and the influence their traditional textiles have exerted on modern art is apparent. However, more important than this is the discovery of Mbuti tree-bark cloth as beautifully and uncannily modern in their abstraction. The collision of abstraction and inherent legibility in the Mbuti textiles demonstrate the success sought by modern artists throughout the late-19th to mid-20th Centuries.

The functionality of tree-bark cloth within the Mbuti society reinforces the unique beauty of these textiles. They are not simply abstracted designs that are perceived as "modern," but are textiles intended to communicate and represent the natural surroundings of the Mbuti tribe. When displayed, the Mbuti tree-bark cloth invites the viewer to decipher the object represented in the elegant design made by these peoples who continue to have "the power to see."

As many of us view these pieces as singular pieces of art, we recommend framing them and hanging them on the wall, with an imaginative or simple matted background which shows the textile well. While they have a rough texture, they are somewhat fragile, and are best displayed in a non-functional setting. I personally field-collected all of the Mbuti pieces offered for sale on the Textiles of Africa web site in the D.R. Congo.

Sincerely,

Andrew Berz,
Owner

Ref: John Gillow, "African Textiles."
Georges Meurant, "Mbuti Design: Paintings by Pygmy Women of the Ituri Forest."
Jean Laude, "Primitivism in 20th Century Art."
R. Farris Thompson & S. Bahuchet, "Pygmées?"
Monica Blackmun Visona, "A History of Art in Africa."

Photographs:
1). "Femme Mbuti Traçant Des Lignes Courbes Sur Le Visage d'Un Enfant," 1982. Photo © Robert Farris Thompson.
2). "Mbuti Visual Hocketing in Bafwasame," 1990, Photo © Serge Bahuchet.
3). "Pastorale (Rhythms)", by Paul Klee, 1927. Photo © The Museum of Modern Art, New York.