Secrets of the kanga makers

Kangas are a way of life here in Zanzibar, buzzing with layers of meaning. You can find many kangas for sale at Darajani market, Stone Town’s hustle-bustle marketplace where one can find just about anything under the blazing hot sun. The more I searched through kanga patterns to find my top five here in Zanzibar, the more I discovered unique differences between designs and sayings on kangas destined for mainland Tanzania and those coming to the island of Zanzibar.

Mainland kangas are nzito (heavier) with a thicker cotton density and a higher price tag. Most mainland kangas are produced in Tanzania’s eight textiles factories, such as Urafiki Textiles, headquartered in Dar es Salaam, using locally produced cottons and/or in some cases, synthetic fibre blends. Urafiki’s deputy of kangas, Mr Salum RJ Diunga, guarantees that Urafiki brand kangas are 100% cotton.

Zanzibar’s kangas are produced primarily in Mumbai, India through a close relationship with the highly influential Chavda Textiles factory. The cotton is less dense, making for thinner, lighter fabrics that go perfectly with the Zanzibari heat, and while they are less expensive, they’re also not as durable.

As for the designs themselves, Mr Diunga of Urafiki explains that there are only two designers who work for the factory and who are responsible for creating a new kanga design each week. Due to the high cost of multi-colour production, the designs usually employ a fairly simple colour palate ranging from one to three colours per design.

Mainland designs usually use a range of darker, deeper primary colours (think: mustard yellows, maroons, navy blues) and feature more object-driven designs (think: radios, teacups, scissors). Mr Diunga laments a recent rash of pirating Urafiki’s designs, which is unfortunate for everyone, since diverse designs are what everyone craves, not just reproductions of the same styles.

Mr Issa, on the other hand, one of the main managers at the Chavda Factory retail headquarters in Stone Town, Zanzibar, explains that their designs are actually re-makes of older, favourite designs worn by the mabibi (grandmothers). He says that Zanzibari women enjoy more Islamic-style geometric shapes and patterns.

Zanzibar’s kangas tend to be a lot more colourful, with surprising colour combinations (yellow/purple or hot pink/red, for example), perhaps because production is cheaper in India.

Mr Issa says they don’t work with any one designer but rather borrow or purchase older designs that then get sent to the factory for exact replication, with only a slogan change.

Where do all those sayings come from, you wonder? Urafiki’s Mr Diunga says that his factory works with a women’s advisory council that helps them select slogans. His sales team also works with focus groups and marketers who keep a pulse on fresh, interesting slogans, sayings, and trends. Sayings come primarily from the Qur’an, Bible, children’s songs, politics, and new pop music and are often reworded or reprinted depending on popularity.

The designer, too, has a lot of say in what gets said, though there Mr Diunga explains that there are two main markets to appease: the village woman who gravitates toward slogans related to harvest, god, and luck, and the urban woman, who tends to enjoy sayings that relate more to relationships, work, fate, and love.

Mr Issa, of Chavda, insists that all Zanzibari women enjoy conservative sayings that rely more heavily on mafumbo (ambiguity) and metaphor. Because Zanzibar is predominantly Muslim, there are more 'majina' (slogans) sourced directly from the holy Qur’an, as well as specific blessings related to Islamic holidays. Zanzibaris also tend to enjoy more classical Swahili references and proverbs borrowed from classical taarab songs.

At Chavda, too, Mr Issa says they work with a women’s advisory council to come up with new or revised sayings to tag onto older designs, and also take recommendations from anyone who comes into the shop. The ultimate decision gets made by Mr Issa and his team, as they prepare to ship the kangas and taped, hand-written sayings to the Chavda factory in Mumbai for production.

Each year, thousands of kangas get shipped back and forth across the Indian Ocean. Chavda Textiles is the most well-known company in Zanzibar, but Suma Textiles, also located in India, is a major supplier too. These relationships speak to an extensive, centuries-old textiles trade legacy between Zanzibar and the rest of the world.

The next time you find yourself in East Africa, there will be a whole new market of kangas and their sayings to match your mood and circumstance. Don’t be shy to ask or search for a translation – it just might be the exact words you need to heal – or break – one’s heart.