Here is a snapshot, a glimpse into the amazing world of African textiles.

Highlights from our World Cultures and British and Empire and Commonwealth collections will reflect the variety of patterns, colours, materials and techniques created as well as focusing on the personal and provocative stories they can tell.

The selection of textiles and clothing dates from the late 1800’s to the present day and come from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Mali and Swaziland amongst others.

From mud cloth to adinkra, barkcloth dresses to kanga cotton prints, ‘royal’ kente cloth to huge embroidered agbadas, this exhibition will give you a taste of the amazing ingenuity of the textile artists of Africa and explore the importance of cloth in social and political lives of those who wear them.