Olivia Strange
If someone gives you a khanga (printed cloth) with a rooster on it, don’t make your thanks too effusive. The symbolism of the bird, according to Roland Karakashian, who manufactures these cloths in South Africa, suggests that the recipient talks too much. A guinea fowl print brings rain; a fish design should be given to a pregnant woman; a sangoma should wear one bearing snakes; and stripes signify nobility.
That’s his theory, anyway. Others say the animals and patterns on khangas have no significance and vary according to fashion and demand. They are often designed to focus attention on a particular event – political, religious or social – and might incorporate photographic portraits of prominent people. Distribution of these propaganda items in marginal areas has been known to influence voters in election campaigns in many parts of Africa.
Khangas, usually sold in 2m lengths and priced between R20 and R40, have a dominant central area with surrounding patterns and borders, usually on all four sides. The motto or message is printed above or below the main motif.
Once worn, the cloths become charged with “human experience” and assume a deeper social and political significance, and it is generally frowned upon to sell or pawn an “owned” khanga. They often becomes heirlooms, passed from one generation of women to the next.
They are also used by sangomas, who are directed through dreams which design to wear on a certain day for a particular purpose.