The Art of Kuba Weaving: Suggested Reading

Columbia locations and call numbers indicated. Originally posted to accompany an exhibition.

  1. Adams, Monni. "Kuba embroidered cloth." In African arts. Vol. 12, no. 1 (1978): 24-39.
    Fine Arts N1 Af83, v. 12
  2. Au royaume du signe, appliques sur toile des Kuba, Zaire. Paris: A. Biro, Fondation Dapper, c1988.
    Fine Arts N7397.K83 Au15
  3. Binkely, David A. and Patricia J. Darish, "'Enlightened but in darkness': interpretations of Kuba art and culture at the turn of the twentieth century." In The scramble for art in central Africa, ed. Enid Schildkrout and Curtis A. Keim, 37-62. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
    Fine Arts -- N7397 C33 Sc14
    Lehman -- N7399.C6 S39 1998
  4. Cornet, Joseph. A survey of Zairian art: the Bronson Collection. Raleigh, North Carolina: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1978.
    Fine Arts N7397.K83 C813
  5. Cornet, Joseph. Art royal Kuba. Milano: Sipiel, 1982.
    Fine Arts N7397.C33 C81
  6. Cornet, Joseph. Art of Africa: treasures from the Congo. Translated from the French by Barbara Thompson. London : Phaidon ; New York : distributed by Praeger Publishers, 1971.
    Fine Arts N7397.K83 C81
  7. Cornet, Joseph. "The Itul celebration of the Kuba." In African arts, vol. 13, no. 3 (1980): 28-33.
    Fine Arts N1 Af83, v. 13
  8. Cornet, Joseph-Aurelien. Zaire: peuples/art/culture. Photographie, Angelo Turconi. Anvers, Belgique: Fonds Mercator, 1989.
    Fine Arts N7397,K83 C8134
  9. Darish, Patricia J. "Dressing for the next life: raffia." In Cloth and human experience, ed. Annette B. Weiner and Jane Schneider. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, c1989.
    Lehman GT525.C57 1989
  10. Darish, Patricia J. "Dressing for success: ritual occasions and ceremonial raffia dress among the Kuba of south-central Zaire." Iowa Studies in African Art, vol. 3, 179-191. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1990.
    Fine Arts N1 Sy68, v. 3
  11. Darish, Patricia J. "Kuba textiles: the dynamics of creation, style, and meaning within the Kuba kingdom." Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1991.
  12. Faszination Bakuba : afrikanische Textilien des Shoowa-Stammes. Idee: M. Kirdok. Wien: Kirdok, c1996.
    Fine Arts N7397.K83 F26
  13. Hilton-Simpson, Melville W. Land and peoples of the Kasai. London: Constable and Co., 1911.
  14. Himmelheber, Hans. Zaire 1938/39: photographic documents on the arts of the Yaka, Pende, Tshokwe and Kuba = Fotodokumente zur Kunst bei den Yaka, Pende, Tshokwe und Kuba. Zurich: Museum Rietberg, 1993.
    Fine Arts N7397.K83 H57
  15. Hultgren, Mary Lou and Jeanne Zeidler. A taste for the beautiful: Zairian art from the Hampton University Museum. Hampton, Virginia: Hampton University Museum, 1993.
    Fine Arts N7397.K83 H18
  16. Mack, John. "Bakuba embroidery patterns: a commentary on their social and political implications." In Textiles of Africa, ed. Dale Idiens and K.G. Ponting, 163-174. Bath, England: The Pasold Research Fund, 1980.
    Fine Arts N7380 T31
  17. Mack, John. Emil Torday and the art of the Congo, 1900-1909. London: British Museum Publications, 1990?
    Fine Arts N7397.K83 M19
  18. Mack, John. "Kuba art and the birth of ethnography." In The scramble for art in central Africa, ed. Enid Schildkrout and Curtis A. Keim, 63-78. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
    Fine Arts -- N7397 C33 Sc14
    Lehman -- N7399.C6 S39 1998
  19. Meurant, Georges. Shoowa design: African textiles from the kingdom of Kuba. New York: Thames and Hudson, c1986.
    Avery AK8889 Z13 M57
  20. Picton, John and John Mack. African textiles: looms, weavings and design. London: British Museum Publications for the Trustees of the British Museum, c1979.
    Avery AK8887 P58
  21. Sheppard, William Henry. "Into the heart of Africa." In Southern workman. Vol. 22 (1893): 182-187.
  22. Sheppard, William Henry. Presbyterian pioneers in Congo. Richmond, Virginia: Presbyterian Committee of Publications, 1916.
  23. Sheppard, William Henry. Pioneers in Congo. Louisville, Kentucky: Pentecostal Publishing Co., 1922.
    Butler BV3625.K7 S53 1900z
  24. Sieber, Roy. African textiles and decorative arts. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1972.
    Fine Arts N7380 .Si153
    Barnard NK8887. S53 1972
  25. Svenson, Ann E. Kuba textiles: an introduction. In WAAC Newsletter. Vol. 8, no. 1 (Jan. 1986): 2-5.
    The Western Association for Art Conservation (Los Angeles, California) publishes "WAAC Newsletter". In 1986, Ann E. Svenson was Assistant Textile Conservator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
  26. Torday, Emil. On the trail of the Bushongo. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1925.
  27. Torday, Emil and T.A. Joyce. Notes ethnographique sur les peuples communément appelés Bakuba, ainsi que sur les peuplades apparentées les Bushongo. Annales du Musée Royal du Congo Belge. Série 3, Ethnographie, anthropologie. Documents ethnographiques concernant les populations du Congo Belge, Tome II, Fasc. 1. Bruxelles: Musée Royal du Congo Belge, 1910.
    Fine Arts N5310 T63
    Barnard DT650.K83 T67 1910 [Oversize]
  28. Vansina, Jan. The children of Woot: a history of the Kuba peoples. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1978.
    Butler DT650.K83 V36 1978
    Fine Arts N7397 K83 V36
  29. Washburn, Dorothy K. Style, classification and ethnicity: design categories on Bakuba raffia cloth. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 80, pt. 3. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1990.
    Fine Arts N7397 K83 W27

(February 1998)
Compiled by Yuusuf Caruso
African Studies Librarian, Columbia University
caruso@columbia.edu