Irresistible Designs of the Colony: Weaving, Patterns, and Mission Arts in the Belgian Congo

In the late 1930s, ethnographers and missionaries working in the western regions of the Belgian Congo documented the geometric patterns widely used in local textile designs. Belgians in Congo marveled at the sheer number of designs and were also fascinated by translating their names and meaning. In response to such European interest, young girls at Kangu mission school replicated geometric designs in pattern books and woven textiles, which were then sent back to Europe for display in various colonial and missionary exhibitions. Using the circulating motifs as a case study, this paper examines how the designs were replicated in products from the Kangu mission, displayed in exhibitions, and presented in publications. I consider how the creation and replication of these designs across new and different media was woven into narratives of colonialism. The pattern books are themselves innovative objects: in one variety, artists hand-colored grids to replicate designs, while in the second form, artists wove paper strips to re-create the patterns and illustrate techniques. This was also novel medium for the replication of the designs. However, in the exhibitions and publications, the designs were presented as static entities, failing to acknowledge either the motifs’ historical uses or new innovations. Such attitudes are emblematic of the contemporaneous views concerning the fixed and timeless nature of African art. Ultimately, this paper considers how objects mediated the perception of both sides of the colonial system, each side viewing the other through the art that was produced.