Akotifahana Weavers of Madagascar


   The island of Madagascar is one of the East African regions that is home to some of the oldest and most important historic centers of cloth production. A special focus is on the Merina weavers (Fig. 1) of the central highlands in Madagascar. They were among the island’s most prolific and innovative cloth makers.


   One of the most renown cloths is the akotifahana. Akotifahanas are woven from lustrous “Chinese” silk with intricate patterns and riotous color. These large mantles were made in the Merina kingdom of the central highlands in Madagascar. They were made to dress the elites and to wrap their revered for burial. Many times, Merina King and Queens would gift these prestigious cloths to high-ranking subjects and foreign allies. These cloths have been analyzed for religious or socio-political reasons, but none have been found. According to the chapter Things for Making Cloth in the “Ombaisy’s Manuscript,” the designs for akotifahanas were random and came from foreign goods like imported porcelains. [1]

   The lamba akotifahana is a variety of the Malagasy rectangular shoulder mantle known as lamba. This is just known as an akotifahana and is constructed of two to four narrow panels of cloth. This type of akotifahana is made of raffia leaf, bast, cotton, or indigenous silk called Borocera. Both the Malagasy men and women wore the lamba around their shoulders as protective covering to keep warm or to keep away from unwanted gazes (Fig. 2). The lamba akotifahana is also used as ceremonial dress whose designs and material depicted status and group affiliation. The akotifahana (Fig. 3) differ from the Malagasy shoulder mantles in four ways. First, their fibers are different and are not indigenous to the island. Second, the color palettes are different because of the vivid hues that are used or a white on white scheme. Third, the akotifahana weaving is restricted to a small area of Madagascar called Imerina, the kingdom of Merina. Lastly, the cloth has an unusual pattern with motifs that run along the length of the cloth.


  Akotifahana motifs are made with supplementary wet floats which is also known as brocading. Brocading is a weaving pattern that entails inserting an additional thread into the ground weave and then “floating” it over and under wrap threads. Some are white with raised woven patterns which resemble embroidery. These are worn by non-military chiefs of the people on important public occasions and by the upper classes of both sexes during special festivals. [2]






                                                                                

[1] Fee, Sarah. "Historic Handweaving in Highland Madagascar: New Insights from a Vernacular Text Attributed to a Royal Diviner-Healer, c. 1870." Textile History 43, no. 1 (May 2012): 61-82. Humanities International Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 9, 2018).

[2] Fee, Sarah. "The shape of fashion: the historic silk brocades (akotifahana) of highland Madagascar." African Arts 46, no. 3 (2013): 26+. General OneFile (accessed April 9, 2018). http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/apps/doc/A343533128/ITOF?u=vic_liberty&sid=ITOF&xid=a0c75074.

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