Interior Hanging (Tyarka, Arkila Kereka)

Cloths of this type, known as arkilla kereka, are tent-dividers and marriage-bed hangings. Belongings of grandeur and refinement, they were the most costly textiles produced in the Niger River-bend region and were almost always woven on commission. This work was woven in the mid-twentieth century in the Gimbala area of northern Mali known for the expertise of local weavers. Its aesthetic reflects the cosmopolitan engagement of weavers south of the Sahara with the formal vocabulary of North African textile traditions, and its patterns closely parallel those of Berber weavers. These patterns may have once had protective associations.
It comprises a total of seven strips cut to the same length of 192 inches. Six of the strips are 10 inches wide, while the seventh is 9 ½ inches long and present distinctive motif. They were sewn together selvage to selvage and create a coherent overarching pattern. The forty-four different patterns are arranged symmetrically and consist mostly of diamonds, rectangles and triangles woven in a wide range of combinations, using primarily four colors: ochre, indigo, white and yellow. The seventh strip that defines the upper part of the cloth presents distinctive alternating dark indigo blue and white vertical stripes with occasional ochre, indigo and yellow. The cloth would have been suspended from this strip and hung to define architectural spaces. According to textile specialist René Gardi (2008:88), Fulani peoples refer to this top strip as siragetti because of its resemblance to a row of cigarettes.