Sep. 14, 2020 - Now in the African Print History (rear Admiral) African Print

Hello.
RICCI EVERYDAY The Hill (代官山直営店) member Misaki Masaki.

This time, I will be able to tell you from the perspective of the presence of African prints by China and the efforts of African prints by Africa in the present day, as a subordinate to African prints, about the history of African prints from the 1990s to the present.

1. A challenge for African prints by mass production
2. African prints by Africa and modern
   
   

1. A challenge for African prints by mass production

Since the 1970s, Chinese companies have entered the African print market in earnest, and Chinese-made products at the time have overwhelmingly cheap compared to others, and have become a massive influx across Africa. However, most of them are imitation products of major brands, including products from the Dutch old Brisco, which are now pointed out to be a problem that threatens the quality of African prints as not good in quality.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, local companies continued to convert to merger companies with China as the closure of local factories continued due to influx of Chinese products. This large influx of Chinese-made African prints has become internationally recognized as a problem that prevents Africa's own industrial development and productivity improvements, which are still in high economic challenges.

The penetration of Chinese-made copying products has also made African print copyright issues more serious. Although African prints have historically begun to imitate the design of Javanese further, many of the old brands have also been born that produce in a proper way in establishing their present presence. However, there are many copy products that have been used without permission to use the product label of the old brand due to the wave of mass production and mass consumption. For example, it has been pointed out that many copies of the designs and labels developed by Brisco, an old-fashioned manufacturer from the Netherlands, founded in 1846, and GCM, a manufacturer from Nigeria, are in circulation. With this point, the African prints now made in China are now becoming more expensive and good products, as well as cheap and crude.

2. African prints by Africa and modern

While recognition has spread internationally due to mass production and mass consumption, African prints are facing many challenges such as quality and copyright. How is the environment surrounding the African prints now changing, given this challenge?

Now African prints are moving to put value on production in Africa locally, both wax prints and fancy fabrics. Such movements in the internal production of African prints have been going on since the 1960s, but since 2010 their importance has increased, especially in the international community. This is related to the fact that the aforementioned old-fashioned maker Brisco has actively promoted efforts to increase global recognition by collaborating with famous designers to move away from conventional cloth makers and increase its status as a high brand. As a result of these efforts, African prints are now adopted in worldwide collections such as Paris and NY, and African wax prints are also incorporated in famous high-branded products such as Christian Dior.

Also, African prints have become used for modern art and other things.
Nigerian-British artist Inca Shobibare performed a solo exhibition in Fukuoka in 2019, and presented a contemporary art work using African prints. In his work, feminism and political issues are thrown through African prints. Through these works, he has the commonality of the discrimination and discrimination against women that black people have received, and his message to them.
In artworks, African prints also emit a great presence as a tool to convey important messages.

Thus, it is very interesting that the current African prints are not one of the classifications of cloth as they were conventional, but also found in artworks and high brands.

How was it?pre-arranged・middle-class• I have solved the history of African prints over the sequel, but there are many history and stories behind one cloth.
RICCI EVERYDAY will tell you from various angles about the appeal of African prints, Uganda, and Africa, so don’t miss the next article!

Reference:
・Pan Fabric official site - history of African fabric and cloth -
• “The Clothes of Kanga,” by Wieko Omoto
・African Miscellaneous Azarai official site - African Print-
• African prints - A story born in Kyoto - by Makoji Naragi, Ueda Bun, and Miboko Aoki
・ポレポリカンガショップ official site
・Why was the African cloth born in Europe? Art from England, named after Ueno Chizuruko, 2019, GLOBE+
・アフリカの公式サイトから誇りに思う
・Vlisco official site

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