Wodaabe Short Tops

A Wodaabe embroidered woman's top from Niger, late 20st century. A Wodaabe embroidered woman's top from Niger, late 20st century. © Trustees of the British Museum, London, acc. no. 2007,2023.1.

The Wodaabe are a sub-group of the Fula people, and many of whom are nomads that live in the southern Sahara. Some of the Wodaabe women wear a short, sleeveless top, especially on festive occasions such as the Gerewol (Guérewol) dance ceremonies, when adolescent men dance in order to impress a potential bride. These tops are usually worn with a skirt of some kind.

The older tops are made from narrow strips of hand woven cotton, while the modern versions are often made from one piece of black cloth. The front of the garment is often decorated with three vertical panels that are hand embroidered. The panels are embroidered with geometric designs. The two flanking panels normally carry similar decoration. The embroidery is carried out in chain stitch using green, orange, red, yellow and white cotton (cheaper version) or silk (more expensive examples).

See also the TRC Needles entries on Wodaabe embroidery.

Sources:

British Museum online catalogue (retrieved 8th June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Friday, 05 May 2017 13:32