{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O138211"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O138211/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019LK1628/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019LK1628/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2019LK1628","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020MP7640","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT2870","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GH9074","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O138211","accessionNumber":"T.160-1995","objectType":"Dress fabric","titles":[{"title":"Ankara","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"This cotton fabric formed part of an outfit put together for the exhibition <i>Streetstyle, From Sidewalk to Catwalk, 1940 to Tomorrow</i> held at the V&A in 1994-5. The complete outfit consisted of a cotton imitation-batik (ankara) head wrap; a printed cotton top; a painted leather necklace; a cotton batik skirt and leather sandals. The outfit reflected a style of dress worn by UK Rastafarian women in the 1980s.\r\n\r\nThe Rastafarian movement started in Jamaica in the 1930s. Working-class Jamaicans were inspired by the anti-colonial teachings of Marcus Garvey, who sought an ‘Africa for the Africans’, and by the coronation of the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari Makonnen). Followers of the movement rejected the trappings of western modernity. They wore clothes made of natural fibres and allowed their hair to form dreadlocks. \n\nThis Rastafarian woman’s outfit reflects the Afrocentrism of the movement. The ankara textiles used are based on the Indonesian technique of batik, yet they have a long history of being produced in the UK for export to West Africa as, well as for domestic consumption. Ankara is a printed cotton cloth, produced in a variety of patterns formed by the layering of polychromatic dyes. Fashionable in West and East Africa since the late 19th century, ankara is variously  known as 'African wax' or 'Dutch wax' print – despite wax rarely being used in its manufacture. Embodying the overlapping colonial  interests that prevailed in the region and beyond, the cloth has a complex history – rooted in trade monopolisation and cultural appropriation, yet acting as a conduit  for African  agency and resistance.\r\n\r\nOriginally produced in the Netherlands, ankara emerged from experiments to mechanically replicate batik, an Indonesian wax-print cloth traditionally developed by  hand. Early Dutch attempts  roller-printed a resin-resist onto both sides of the cloth before dyeing; the resist was then washed out, with additional layers of colour   added by repeating this process, hand-blocking and/or  roller-printing. The intended export market of Indonesia did not respond well to this imitation batik, as the resin   was prone to cracking and bubbling, producing defects in the print. A keen market  for the cloth did, however, emerge across West Africa in the 1890s, such that   several factories – chiefly in Britain and the Netherlands – began producing ankara with this new customer in mind.  Responding to market feedback on popular   colours and patterns, European producers adapted ankara designs to suit the tastes of their discerning West African customers. In a collaboration  between the   consumer, dealer and manufacturer, local sellers would inform European merchants which styles were in demand and suggest motifs that would likely sell well.\r\n\r\nBy the early 20th century, a cheaper and more refined method of ankara production had been developed, roller-printing only one side of the cloth with a design, without  the use of a resin-resist.  Many examples of this later ankara purposefully include the imperfections that originally marred Dutch attempts to replicate batik – alluding  to  the more esteemed resin-resist technique.","physicalDescription":"Fabric for headdress and skirt, printed in a batik design in blue, white and yellow.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"cotton (textile)","id":"AAT14067"}],"techniques":[{"text":"batik","id":"AAT53050"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Cotton with batik print","categories":[{"text":"African Diaspora","id":"THES48873"},{"text":"Black History","id":"THES48989"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Caribbean","id":"THES286921"},{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"}],"styles":[{"text":"Caribbean","id":"AAT107947"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2019LK1628","2020MP7640","2006AT2870","2013GH9074"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES326374"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES307110"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Fabric","id":""}],[{"text":"Fabric","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Manchester","id":"x28993"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Brixton","id":"x36752"},"association":{"text":"retailed","id":"x30772"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1994","earliest":"1989-01-01","latest":"1994-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Width","value":"28","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"05/09/2025","earliest":"2025-09-05","latest":"2025-09-05"},"part":"ankara","note":"maximum width"},{"dimension":"Height","value":"13","unit":"cm","qualifier":"approx","date":{"text":"05/09/2025","earliest":"2025-09-05","latest":"2025-09-05"},"part":"ankara","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Registered File number 1994/2123, Streetstyle exhibition 1994-1995, in the exhibition it was part of an outfit called 'Rasta UK c1980' (includes the blouse T.173-1994).\r\n\r\nA length of fabric was purchased to make a tied skirt and headwrap (see RF 1994/2123).","historicalContext":"'Rasta UK c1980. Cotton batik head wrap; printed cotton top; leather and paint necklace; cotton batik skirt; leather sandals.\r\nThe Rasta woman is feminine and demure in her appearance. She clearly proclaims her African heritage by wearing batiks draped in the traditional manner. These batiked textiles were produced in Manchester for export to the African market as well as for domestic consumption.'","briefDescription":"Dress fabric, printed cotton, Manchester, Great Britain, 1994","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Surfers, Soulies, Skinheads & Skaters : Subcultural Style from the Forties to the Nineties","id":"AUTH352425"},"details":"","free":"Described in the exhibition publication, part of an outfit called 'Rasta UK c1980'."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.160-1995","T.160:1-1995"],"accessionNumberNum":"160","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1995,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-09-05","recordCreationDate":"2007-08-03","availableToBook":true}}