Social Campaign Wrap Cloth

As the African continent emerged from the colonial era, lingering social issues caused and exacerbated by imperialist exploitation, environmental disruptions, and longstanding inequity have required the development of government-led campaigns to instigate social change.

These artifacts are from three separate social campaigns in Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania. They are commemorative textiles distributed to promote and popularize diverse causes: a Nigerian agricultural campaign from 1976, the historic UN Women's conference of 1985 in Nairobi, and wildlife conservation in Tanzania's national parks.

All five wrap cloths (1987.20.1, 1987.20.2; 1999.32.2, 1999.32.3; IL-2021-001) in this category are unhemmed, meaning they were likely never worn by those who possessed these textiles. Most were bought as souvenirs and have been meticulously maintained by the Anne Lambert Clothing and Textiles Collection since shortly after their purchase.

Yardage of plain woven cotton cloth screen printed with scenes of men and women preparing and harvesting food in blue, black and white between brown borders with yellow diamond motifs and text in blue that reads ‘FEED THE NATION’ and ‘FEED THE PEOPLE’.

Feed the Nation wrap cloth (blue); 1976

Cotton, commercially printed; 182.5 cm x 114 cm

Anne Lambert Clothing and Textiles Collection, 1987.20.1

Donated by Wilma Wood

Yardage of plain woven cotton cloth screen printed with scenes of men and women with children preparing and harvesting food in blue, yellow, and white on a purple background with agricultural scenes. Text in white reads ‘FEED THE NATION’ and ‘FEED THE PEOPLE’.

Feed the Nation wrap cloth (purple); 1976

Cotton, commercially printed; 182.5 cm x 105 cm

Anne Lambert Clothing and Textiles Collection, 1987.20.2

Donated by Wilma Wood

FEED THE NATION WRAP CLOTH

Manufactured by Arewa Textiles Ltd. in Kaduna, Nigeria, these two lengths of wrap cloth were made to promote Nigerian head of state, and later president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) campaign in 1976.

In the mid-1970s, Nigeria's overheating economy and declining agricultural production resulted in a "deteriorating food situation" as subsistence farmers abandoned their fields en masse to grow cash crops or live in urban centres (1). Intended to revitalize small-scale farming with a new generation of young farmers to increase domestic food production in the nation, OFN was an agricultural extension program that ultimately resulted in minimal tangible changes beyond the general awareness of food production issues (2).

These textiles depict scenes of people harvesting crops and preparing food in pastoral scenes that show men, women, and children participating in agricultural production. Each is printed with three colours of dye on a white background with stylized borders on the top and bottom selvedge.

  1. Alinno, F. C., Sule, J. G., & Ikwegbe, D. (2012). Rural economic development: Policy implementation in Nigeria. Kuwait Chapter of the Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 2(2), 14-26. https://hrmars.com/papers/detail/IJARBSS/9485/Rural-Economic-Development-Policy-Implementation-in-Nigeria Quoted text from page 18.

  2. Uwakah, C. T., Nweze, N. J., & Nwosu, P. C. (1980). Farmers’ response to Operation Feed the Nation programme in Imo and Anambra states of Nigeria. Oxford Agrarian Studies, 9(1), 154-168. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13600818008423900

Plain weave cotton textile screen printed with a white background, border of black, green, and red concentric circles, Venus symbols, and red and black doves styled as the UN Decade for Women logo. Central motif is a large red dove logo on a white medallion surrounded by clustered black, red, and green dots. Text reads ‘UN DECADE FOR WOMEN CONFERENCE JULY 1985, NAIROBI/KENYA.’

UN Decade for Women kanga (white); 1985

Cotton, commercially printed; 335 cm x 107 cm

Anne Lambert Clothing and Textiles Collection, 1999.32.2

Donated by David Miller

Plain weave cotton textile screen printed with a yellow background, red and white dotted with green and black scalloped border decorated with Venus symbols and black and yellow doves styled as the UN Decade for Women logo. Central motif is a globe with continents in red plus dove logos and Venus symbols printed on landmasses, all surrounded by tiny black and yellow concentric circles. Text reads ‘UN DECADE FOR WOMEN CONFERENCE JULY 1985, NAIROBI/KENYA.’

UN Decade for Women kanga (yellow); 1985

Cotton, commercially printed; 158 cm x 101.5 cm

Anne Lambert Clothing and Textiles Collection, 1999.32.3

Donated by David Miller

UN DECADE FOR WOMEN KANGA

These two kanga were manufactured by Rivatex Eldoret in Eldoret, Kenya, to commemorate the third United Nations World Conference on Women held in Nairobi, Kenya from July 15th to 26th, 1985 (1). With over 1,900 delegates from 157 UN Member states, participants discussed policies for the global advancement of women and evaluated the progress made from the first conference held in Mexico City in 1975 (2).

The most prominent motif found on both kanga is the logo for the International Women's Year, designed by Valerie Pettis in 1975 (3), which combines a mathematical equals sign, UN dove logo, and a Venus symbol to denote femininity. Unlike typical kanga—which are rarely manufactured with tourists in mind and do not usually feature English text—these cloths were probably intended for consumption by visitors to Nairobi for the conference.

The green and white kanga (1999.32.2) consists of a pair of identical kanga, each approximately 160 cm long, still attached together. Kanga are typically sold in pairs (known as doti) so customers can separate the cloth and are able to gift the identical kanga to friends or relatives.

  1. United Nations. (n.d.). World conference to review and appraise the achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women 15-26 July 1985, Nairobi, Kenya. https://www.un.org/en/conferences/women/nairobi1985

  2. UN Women. (n.d.). World conferences on women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/intergovernmental-support/world-conferences-on-women

  3. Teltsch, K. (1974, May 10). U.N. wants it to be more than a 'ladies' meeting.' The New York Times, p. 43. https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/10/archives/un-wants-it-to-be-more-than-a-ladies-meeting.html

Plain weave cotton textile printed with a blue grid pattern surrounded with black dotted border with stylized pictures of African mammals. Central motif is a medallion with leaping antelope ringed by the text ‘SERENGETI, NGORONGORO, & MIKUMI’ and ‘TANZANIA.’ Bottom-central text reads ‘UBAYA HAUNA KWAO MOLA NISITRI NA NJAMA ZAO.’

Serengeti, Ngorongoro & Mikumi kanga; ca. early 2000s

Cotton, commercially printed; 329.5 cm x 104 cm

On Loan to the Anne Lambert Clothing and Textiles Collection, IL-2021-001

Anonymous Donor

SERENGETI, NGORONGORO & MIKUMI KANGA

This kanga, printed by Urafiki Textile Mill in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, for the Tanzania-China Friendship Textile Company (FTC), was created to promote conservation efforts in three environmentally protected areas in Tanzania. The three locations printed on this textile—Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and Mikumi National Park—represent diverse ecosystems including savannah, grasslands, and woodlands regions.

The animals depicted on this kanga are species that live in these habitats: Maasai giraffes flanking the central medallion and plains zebra in the corner of the mji, with lions, wildebeest (gnu), African buffalo, black rhinoceros, African leopards, and African bush elephants forming the pindo (1).

The jina of this kanga reads, "UBAYA HAUNA KWAO MOLA NISITRI NA NJAMA ZAO," which is an anti-poaching message that translates to, "God protect me from their evil plans" in Kiswahili.

  1. Kennedy, A. S., & Kennedy, V. (2014). Animals of the Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Princeton University Press.