Final Multi-Media Project: Presentation





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Akotifahana Weavers of Madagascar

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   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 an...
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Madagascar First Contacts

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   Madagascar has a population that is predominantly of mixed Asian and African origin. The island of Madagascar was uninhabited until Indonesian seafarers arrived around the first century A.D. and married African wives and slaves. Migrations continued from both the Pacific and Africa which furthered the mixture of Asians and Africans.    The seventh century A.D. brought about the written history of Madagascar. Arabs established trading posts along the northwest coast. It wasn’t until the 1500's that Madagascar experienced European contact. A Portuguese sea captain, Diego Dias, sighted the island when his ship became separated from a fleet that was bound for India. Since then there have been numerous contacts between Europeans and the Malagasy people and each time they were able to resist the attempts made by the Europeans to establish footholds on the island.  [1] Map of the community at Tranovato Ilha de Santa Cruz 1656 Madagascar. - Author Flacourt....
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Missions in Madagascar

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   Christianity was not the first religion to get to the island of Madagascar. Around the Middle Ages, Islam was brought to the island by Arab and Somali Muslim traders but failed to take hold in several southeastern coastal communities. However, a few Islamic schools were established along the eastern coast. Today Muslims make up about 7% of Madagascar’s population.    The Malagasy people, especially in Imerina, were oddly receptive of European ideas and influences which was unique in an African country in the nineteenth century. Christianity was introduced to the island of Madagascar by British missionaries between 1818 and 1895. These dates are from when the first British missionaries arrived on the island to the year when Madagascar was conquered by the French and lost their independence.    Formal education began in 1820 at the Palace School in Antananarivo but Christianity itself was not taught until 1829 when it was integrated into and taug...
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