JOËL ANDRIANOMEARISOA: Textile is part of our life and we can't live without textile. We are born on a textile, and when you die, we are dying also in a textile. You can also change many things through textiles. When you go in a performance, when you open the curtain, it's the beginning. When you close the curtain, it's the end.

ANGELIQUE KIDJO (NARRATOR): That is Joël Andrianomearisoa, a contemporary artist born in Antananarivo, Madagascar. The textile you see here is an elaborate handwoven creation from the Malagasy highlands.

In the 19th century, aristocratic Merina weavers developed the akotifahana, or discontinuous supplementary weft technique, and they began integrating newly available imported silk into their creations.

Here is Simon Peers, an expert on Malagasy textiles.

SIMON PEERS: There are accounts in the 18th century of dyes and silk being imported into Madagascar and being used by the Malagasy for weaving, as well as dyes from India and elsewhere. The Chinese silkworm being raised in Madagascar was established really from the 1820s. And so the Bombyx mori silk has been produced here ever since then, and it continues to this day.

You do see photographs from the 19th century of people wearing these textiles, and they were used as an elaborate display of wealth and prestige really.

ANGELIQUE KIDJO: Textiles remain essential in contemporary Malagasy life, weaving the threads that connect Madagascar with traditions across the Indian Ocean.

JOËL ANDRIANOMEARISOA: After the food market, the textile market is the most important market in Madagascar. Everywhere, we are consuming a lot of textile. We are producing, but we are also taking something from abroad, from all around the world. This is for me, and I’m insisting a lot on this—geographically, we are not far from Africa, but we are from Asia, from Pakistan, from India, even China, we have a lot of connection.

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Music: Diavolana/Moonlight by Kaluvau.