On a wall of the Kafue Textile factory in Zambia there is a hand-drawn sign that proclaims the local design philosophy. ''Quality always wins,'' it reads. ''Quality is the best policy. Quality strengthens the nation.''
In Zambia, as in many other African countries that have achieved independence since the early 1960's, textile designs are more than decorative. They are part of the warp and weft of daily life, as much a fixture on the landscape as the village fires that glow orange against evening skies.
African cotton prints, known as chitenge, have flourished here since Zambia, the former Northern Rhodesia, gained independence in 1964.
Today, the brightly colored cottons, which often combine traditional African motifs with modern abstract designs, are widely worn by women, who transform them into skirts, turbans to cushion the head for bearing wood, and imaginative infant carriers. But in a country yet to be inundated with mass media, they also serve a broader political and social function. When the Pope visited Zambia last April, designers at Kafue Textile promptly came up with a commemorative design, which was instantly sold out. In last year's general election, intricate textiles enjoining voters to ''Vote Yes'' for ''K. K.'' - with a printed portrait of President Kenneth Kaunda surrounded by crossed torches, a symbol of independence - functioned as elegant, wearable campaign billboards.
Part fashion, part news bulletin, the textiles manufactured in Zambia have become something of a national emblem, with designs incorporating everything from the fish eagle, the national bird known for its majestic, piercing cry, to pots and pans and traditional charms. As much as half the population now wears and decorates with Kafue chitenge prints, according to Yogendra Kak, deputy director of Kafue Textiles of Zambia.Continue reading the main story
But it wasn't always so. When Kafue Textiles opened for business in 1969, Zambian women resisted the prints. ''Part of the population looked down on local culture,'' said Francis Chishimba, the firm's chief designer. ''Zambia was Westernized. All the girls and women were going for polyester.''
Unlike many west African countries, Zambia - formerly Northern Rhodesia, a landlocked country in southern Africa bordered by Tanzania, Zaire, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique - did not possess a tradition of hand-woven textiles. But cloth has played an important role throughout Africa for centuries. Wax prints - cotton cloths with designs imitating East Indian batiks - were introduced to the continent by traders of the Dutch East India Company and were imported from Europe beginning in the late 19th century. These fabrics became instant status symbols, to be worn and displayed along with traditional weavings.
By the end of the century, European textile manufacturers were doing a brisk business producing cloth specifically for the African market. According to Anne M. Spencer, curator of ethnology at the Newark Museum, which has an extensive collection of commemorative textiles, the shift to local production began in the 1960's; that is when countries such as Nigeria and Ghana banned the importation of cloth. By 1970, many African nations, Zambia included, had begun to manufacture their own cloth ''as an expression of national self-reliance,'' she said.
Kafue Textiles was founded just five years after independence. As in other African countries, the textiles today have become a subtle but powerful force for national unity, particularly in a country composed of approximately 72 tribes, each with its own dialect (the national language is English).
''You never forgot a Nigerian,'' said Mr. Kak, referring to Nigeria's tradition of embroidered dresses. ''We wanted a way to promote our national heritage and identity. In the background, chitenge prints can join tribes and help forge a nation.''
Mr. Chishimba and his five-person design staff produce 250 to 300 individual designs a year, which are printed by modern rotary printer machines imported from Switzerland. Once associated with rural life, chintenge prints (the word ''chitenge'' is borrowed from a Swahili term for colored fabric made from tree bark) are now seen among fashionable women in urban areas, who sew and purchase dresses made from chitenge prints to which they add Western-style lace, buttons and leather patches.
Inspiration comes from many sources, according to Mr. Chishimba. Ideas for designs come not only from professionals but also from local artists, who frequently send in drawings of local shrubs or birds, as well as from schoolchildren, who are ''talented freelance designers,'' in Mr. Chishimba's words.
As with its Western fashion counterparts, many of the designs come from what's current. ''We try to keep up,'' said Mr. Chishimba, who formerly traveled to Europe until the country's current foreign currency shortage curtailed overseas travel by the design staff. ''We look to museum exhibitions, and at what women are wearing at the markets.'' Ideas frequently are based on the news. Last year's textile celebrating 25 years of independence juxtaposed a portrait of the President with the modern skyscrapers of Lusaka. A more recent design promotes wildlife conservation and Government antipoaching efforts. It features indigo blue silhouettes of cape buffalo, elephant and giraffe on a vibrant yellow field, encircled by the slogan ''Extinction Is Forever.''
Kafue Textiles is owned jointly by the state and private enterprise. Although company management stresses that it is independent from the Government, politically oriented designs must be approved by Zambian authorities before printing (Zambia is a one-party state that has been led by President Kaunda since independence).
Tourists can buy the fabrics at the factory shop at Kafue, about a 45-minutes drive from Lusaka, or at outlets in seven cities, including Livingstone, the site of Victoria Falls, and Lusaka. Tours of the factory can be arranged through local tour operators. All patterns cost about $3.90 a meter (at 18 kwacha to the dollar) and is can be bought by cash (Zambia kwacha) only.
On a recent visit, there were a variety of textiles for sale. Though the more politically oriented ones may be of more historical than decorative interest to Western eyes, most of the fabric designs - even ones featuring native motifs - are handsome and contemporary. Among them was a bright purple fabric decorated with stylized lions with fiery manes, and an intricate textile composed of colorful Escher-like profiles of crested cranes. The general quality of the designs, which could easily be adapted to American clothing and tablecloths and the like, prompted speculation by this visitor of what might happen if an American sheet manufacturer got hold of them.
In addition to their beauty, Kafue's chitenge prints record current history and the contrasts that are evident in a country where the modern and traditional ways of life coexist. In Mr. Chishimba's workshop one afternoon recently, a new cloth commemorated traditional African doctors in a motif of antelope horns, which are used for healing. In another corner, designers were putting the finishing touches on a colorful textile extolling the virtues of immunization, decorated with the phrase ''A Healthy Child Is a Future Leader.'' WHERE TO SHOP For information on Kafue Textiles of Zambia, contact the company at Post Office Box 131, Kafue, Zambia (telephone: 311501, Telex ZA 70020).
The factory shop in Kafue is open Monday to Friday, 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. Kafue Textiles shops are open Monday through Saturday, 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.
The company does not ship directly to the United States.
Kafue textile outlets are well-known in Zambia and any local taxi driver should be able to guide tourists to them.Continue reading the main story