THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO - OFFICIAL 8 Minute Trailer - In Theaters 12/21 (by dragontattoo)
Ph: Women in Tanzania wearing Khangas
An East African khanga is a rectangle of pure cotton cloth with a border all around it and printed in bold designs and bright colours. It is as long as a person’s outstretched arm and wide enough to cover from neck to knee, or from waist to toe. Khangas are often bought in pairs and are usually worn in a most attractive and useful way. Most traditional outfits require a matched or unmatched pair. Women also use khangas to cover other clothes and to carry their young children on their backs. Khangas are also used as tablecloths and decorative wall hangings.
Khangas use a variety of African sayings, idioms, proverbs, slogans, expressions, idioms and riddles in Swahili and English. These sayings must be understood in their cultural and social contexts. It is important to understand that many of the sayings are intended to be a commentary on the lives of East African women and their complex relationships. Many of the sayings are messages (hidden/coded or otherwise) that women communicate to each other. Usually the saying is printed on the bottom middle of the cloth. More recent East African khangas also contain informational and educational messages.
*UPDATE* James is now taking commissions for these Che Guevara carvings. They are priced at £125, contact me (Jason) at awaycaboose(at)gmail(dot)com and I’ll get back to you with a postage & packing cost. Payment by cheque or PayPal. These are hand made to order so turnaround and shipping to the UK will be in the region of 1 to 2 weeks, expect shipping to be longer to other parts of the World. Exact dimensions to follow. Any questions then feel free to email me. *UPDATE*
These carvings are by James, one of my course mates. I wanted to share them here to showcase some of the pieces being made by the other folks on the course for their personal project.
The last picture is of the first Che Guevara carving which he completed in week 3. Luckily he started another one in week 4, as I didn’t manage to capture the full process the first time round.
The first one was carved by hand with chisels, second was done with a router and both were filled with a mixture of the glue used by Ben the boat builder and wood shavings collected from the workshop floor. Once they were filled with the mixture and it was dry, a quick blast over with a belt sander was all it took to finish the carvings off.
