The Kuba people of Africa have a vital textile tradition pulsing through their deeply rooted history, their rituals, their culture and their art.  Known as People of the lightning, People of the king and People of the cloth, the Kuba people are actually eighteen different, but culturally related, ethnic groups living in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (although some say nineteen groups).  Their designation as “people of the lightning” derives from their exulted skill in throwing many-bladed ritualistic knives (shongo) that resemble lightning. In the language of their neighboring tribe, the Luba, Kuba literally means “lightning.”  The Kuba self-identify as “people of the king,” unified under one royal leader whose lineage has been preserved for over 400 years.  Their identification as “people of the cloth,” or Bambala,encapsulates their rich legacy as virtuosos of the textile arts.  On another level, it also refers to the Kuba’s astonishing bounty of status cloth and ceremonial costumes, marking this group as particularly wealthy and powerful.  These cloths are commonly used as a means of measuring wealth and, in fact, some cloths are used as a form of currency (“woven currency”).  Even the King’s palace is centered around cloth: it is always built within the “well-woven plains” and the name of the palace itself conjures the word mbal, used to refer to a panel of woven raffia cloth. 15" Wide x 38" Long