Dida ceremonial fabric

Notes

Ingeniously woven from raffia fibres and dyed with organic and mineral pigments, Dida cloth represents one of the most distinctive and complex fabric-making practices in West Africa.

Its characteristic palette of soft yellow, red, and black tones, together with its intricate surface textures, is the result of a multi-stage resist-dyeing process. Within Dida society, the cloth symbolised wealth, power, and identity. It was worn by elites during ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, and ritual dances, and was regarded as a form of wealth and cultural treasure, embodying the skill, patience, and creativity of Dida women.

In 2023, UNESCO recognised the weaving method known as tubular oblique interlacing, used to produce these fabrics, by inscribing it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Provenance

Michael Heuermann Collection.