Stunning Patterns

The first American exhibition on Malagasy textiles in over 20 years and the first worldwide on Merina textiles, Stunning Patterns: Woven Textiles from Madagascar’s Merina Kingdom weaves a dynamic story of royalty, resistance, reinvention, and resilience as told through the history of eastern African silk weaving. Focusing on the Merina Kingdom (c. 1540–1897, also called Imerina) and people, it considers how changing political, economic, and environmental factors affected the lamba, a pan-Malagasy woven textile used as a garment or shroud. ​​

The textile Raitra Marosoratra (“stunning with many patterns”), created in 2021 by the artists of Madagascar’s Lamba SARL workshop, is the first African textile commissioned by the Cleveland Museum of Art and the first Malagasy artwork to enter its collection. Woven from colorful silk, the large patterned and striped textile is a revival of historical silk mantles called lamba akotifahana. This exhibition contextualizes this important new commission by presenting it alongside historical Merina Kingdom textiles; depictions of Malagasy elites and diplomats wearing them; and new video content about the artists and Malagasy weaving filmed on-site.

Foregrounding how these textiles were used and made, it covers some two centuries through the present day, including new insights into the evolution of these textiles under colonial rule and in the independence era. Personal stories linking past figures to present-day individuals foreground points of connection. Additionally, it considers the important role of silkworms and tapia forests in preserving Madagascar’s unique ecology. The complex beauty of the exhibited works appeal to a wide spectrum of visitors––including lovers of textiles, history, and the environment––and speak to new trends in studying the arts of the African and Indian Ocean region.

Credit: Overview from museum website