Skirt for a Married Woman 1985

This skirt for a married woman was made by Djege Coulibaly, its visual language made up of simple marks and patterns. I like to imagine Djege at work, thinking about who will wear this skirt, and what it means to them. What ideas and feelings might they hope to express? Perhaps these patterns aren’t just decorative but are part of a conversation within the community. The white marks on the dark ground are striking, a graphic pattern built from crosses. How does Djege balance the overall design with these individual shapes? It's got rhythm, doesn't it? And a real sense of movement, making me think of textile artists like Anni Albers and Sophie Taeuber-Arp who had an amazing talent for blending the visual and tactile. There’s something very human about the way these marks are made. It's a reminder that art is made from simple gestures which artists have been exchanging for millennia.