Cape Verdean Tapestry and the Artistic Renewal of a Nation: Don’t Let the Weaving Die

Abstract

In this article I analyse how tapestry contributed to the affirmation of post-colonial identity in Cape Verde. After the archipelago’s independence in 1975, the dissemination and renewal of craft was one of the ways to generate a new Cape Verdean identity, its popular character facilitating its spread to the entire population. The Cooperativa Resistência founded in 1976, was given the task of exploring all the forms of traditional craft in Cape Verde, but gave priority to the textile arts, trying to revitalize the panú di téra (a traditional Cape Verdean textile made from cotton, literally “cloth of the land”) under the motto “não deixar morrer a tecelagem,” [“don’t let the weaving die”] at the time when it in danger of extinction. In 1977, the Cooperativa Resistência gave way to the Centro Nacional de Artesanato (CNA) that encouraged collaboration between artists and craftsmen and was imbued with the revolutionary spirit inherited from the pan-Africanist and anti-colonial leader Amílcar Cabral. Renamed Centro Nacional de Arte, Artesanato e Design (CNAD) in 2018, the Centre now follows another model to support crafts: promoting creative residencies in order to facilitate artistic synergies between different disciplines. One of these residencies - the TEADA residency – concentrates on fiber art, situating tapestry as an autonomous artistic object in line with movements that have been taking shape since the first biennials in Lausanne. The foundation of the TEADA residency has coincided with the end of the last generation of artisans trained in the early days of the CNA and concerns that Cape Verdean tapestry is in danger of becoming a mere tourist souvenir.