Madagascar

The Block

Sylvie Andriantsara-Razanajato and Sister Meline Razafindravao designed and embroidered the Madagascar block. Three pieces from a lamba, which is a large woven shawl, form the backdrop. The type of lamba and the manner in which it is worn, by both men and women, depends on the occasion and the person’s social position. In each oval, a beautifully embroidered portrait of a woman is surrounded by colourfully stitched local vegetation. Women in Madagascar love to do each other’s hair and the carefully reproduced sampling of hairstyles in this piece reflect the distinctive styles specific to each geographical region. For the Malagasy, hair, embroidery and lambas are all important aspects of daily living.

Cultural Profile

Located off the east coast of Africa and known as the ‘Great Red Island’ to its neighbours because of the colour of the soil, Madagascar is the world’s fourth largest island. It is home to many unique plants and animals, half of all chameleons in the world, and over 800 species of butterflies. Madagascar’s wildlife is in fact so unique that 90% of species on the island cannot be found anywhere else on earth.

The Malagasy are a mixture of Asians and Africans divided into 18 ethnic groups. The official languages are French and Malagasy, with various dialects spoken in different regions. Although near Africa, Malagasy culture is closely linked to south-east Asia, specifically Indonesia. Respect for family and community is extremely important and is extended beyond the living. The dead are regarded with awe and reverence and play a role in daily life rarely seen in other cultures. A famous ritual, the famadihana, or turning of the bones, involves exhuming the dead, entertaining and talking to them and then reburying them with gifts. The ancestral remains are rewrapped in new lambas (woven shawls).

The diversity of textile output can be attributed to the fact that Madagascar, sitting between Africa and South East Asia, was at various times a trading post for Arab merchants, French colonizers and a multitude of other nationalities. The trade provided a ready source for numerous raw materials, for skilled local weavers and artisans. The sale of tablecloths embroidered with point de Richelieu by the women on Nosy Be Island accounts for much of this small island’s economy. The lambas made on the island are produced in a wide variety of colours, techniques, materials (wild silk, cotton, silk or raffia cloth) and patterns (striped, elaborate prints or complex geometric patterns). While some are reserved for specific occasions such as burials, others are widely used in daily for everything from carrying children to laying in the sun.

At the end 19th century, French missionaries on the island managed to use the silk produced by the golden orb spider and the talent of Malagasy spinners and weavers to produce a golden fabric displayed at the Paris World Fair. The shimmering cloth exhibited was a huge success, but was somehow lost after the fair and became a legend. A century later, Madagascar residents Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley embarked on a mission to reproduce the legendary cloth. As spiders cannot be farmed (they ended up devouring each other), they had to be collected in the wild every morning, ‘milked’ of their silk and returned outside at night. Each thread was then spun and woven into a golden, shimmering brocade by weavers to produce the truly unique textile which has dazzled crowds.

Other notable crafts include the weaving of raffia palms to make baskets, floor mats, purses and the hats worn by many Malagasy on a daily basis. Woodcarving, also a popular craft, is used to make sculptures, household items, furniture, and aloalo funerary posts. Elaborate balcony railings and structural elements made out of exotic and rare woods are architectural traits of buildings on the island.

People from Madagascar have been coming to Canada since 1974 with their total numbers in Canada amounting to less than 3,000 as of the 2011 census. A small group of about 300 is very active in the Centre Malgache, located in Montreal.

Sponsor: Fabricville, Montréal