As part of TRC Leiden’s preparations for the Encyclopedia of Embroidery from Sub-Saharan Africa (Bloomsbury, London, 2022), we have been in contact with several embroidery groups in various African countries, notably the Queen Amina Embroiderers in Nigeria.
Savane Kabuye embroidery, Rwanda, 2020 (TRC 2021.0500a).
Just recently we also contacted the Savane Kabuye group in Rwanda. We have also been talking with Juliana Meehan, an American who has been promoting the Rwandan group's work in the US with a travelling exhibition called PAX Rwanda: Embroideries of the Women of Savane Kabuye.
Detail of a Savane Kabuye embroidery, Rwanda, 2020 (TRC 2021.0500a).
Juliana Meehan has very kindly helped with an entry for the encyclopaedia about the group and also donated an example of Savane Kabuye's work to illustrate the text (see below). The embroidery has just arrived (two days ago) and we have immediately photographed and registered it as part of the TRC Collection (TRC 2021.0500a-b). To my pleasant surprise the parcel with the embroidery also included a book that Juliana had specially made, which includes background information to the group as well as photographs of many of the embroiderers with a short biography of each person.
The embroidery has been worked in a technique I am not familiar with and it works really well. Embroidery yarns generally used in Europe and America, such as DMC mercerised threads, are too expensive, especially given the large scale on which some of the Savane Kabuye embroideries are produced. So a simple, but effective solution was found, namely, they use a good quality sewing thread and usually work with three different colours at one time. The three colours pass through the eye of the needle, and in this way they mix colours as a painter would mix paint.
The embroiderers of Savane Kabuye use only a few stitches, and in particular chain, filling and stem stitch. Each embroidery may be worked by one or more women and can take weeks to finish. A range of subjects are included in the designs, from local life and activities, to animals, birds, etc. This is a style of embroidery that is nowadays found at many places in Africa, and beyond, and recalls the now famous Wissa Wassef work from Egypt from the 1960's onwards.
PAX Rwanda & The Artists of the Kabuye Workshop, by Juliana Meehan.
Many of these embroidery workshops are being organised by Non-Governmental Organisations that try to stimulate the artistic expression of the women embroiderers, while at the same time providing them with an income. The Savane Kabuye group is a local initiative, and what marks out their embroideries is their very attractive glow, which is not normally found on embroideries, as well as their having a thick and dense, yet at the same time flexible structure.
More details about the work of Savane Kabuye can be found at PaxRwanda.com. If you are interested in finding out more about the Pax Rwanda exhibition, please contact Juliana Meehan via PaxRwanda.com
Gillian Vogelsang, 24 February 2021
