Member Program: Get to Know African Textiles in the Collection
Curatorial Fellow Zingha Foma shares her findings after a year-long survey of the sub-Saharan African textiles in The Textile Museum Collection. Drawing on several standout examples – including a Nsondoup tunic from Cameroon and a Ukara cloth from Nigeria's Ekpe society – Foma will explore how resist-dye methods and strip-woven cloth became defining technologies of West and Central African textile production.
Attendees can expect a close look at how indigo dyeing, stitch and tie-resist patterning, and narrow-loom weaving carry distinct regional signatures, along with the social, spiritual and political meanings these textiles held for the communities that made and wore them. Foma will also share fresh insight into the histories and makers behind these textiles, offering members a rare, in-depth look at some of the collection's most compelling works.
About Zingha Foma
Zingha Foma joined the museum as a curatorial fellow in 2026, where she researches and catalogs the museum's African textile holdings. She is a Ph.D. candidate in African history at New York University, where she also earned her Master of Philosophy. Her dissertation, "Fashion on the Gold Coast: Textile Production, Trade Networks and Social Transformation from the 15th to the 17th Centuries," draws on archival research at the National Archives and Kew, and ethnographic fieldwork with weavers and resist-dye artisans across Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon and Nigeria.
How to Participate
This program is for museum members and will take place on Zoom. If you are already a member, please register in advance to reserve your spot. If you are not currently a member, you can join or renew online.
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