West African Wild Silks Techniques: Preserving Marka-Dafing’s Heritage of Knowledge

PI: Laurence Douny | Collaborators: Salif Sawadogo, Lonsani Dayo, Abdoulaye Séré | Project ID: 2019LG04
Location of Research: Western Burkina Faso | Host Institution: Humboldt University Berlin

This project documents the production of West African wild silks among the Marka-Dafing community of Burkina Faso. The practice and its corresponding techniques comprise a knowledge system called laada or tigné, meaning ‘what is transmitted by the ancestors.’ Among the Marka-Dafing, the practice is primarily women’s work, from the initial stages of yarn production through to finished garments. In addition to the gendered aspect of wild silk production, the project foregrounds human-ecosystem and multispecies interaction. Wild silkworms are increasingly rare; hence a special level of ecological understanding is requisite to sourcing the raw materials. The project team comprises 68 members, including collectors, producers, weavers, and dyers. These were assembled by wild silk experts Afissata Fofana, Hezita Dayo and Womina Diallo.

Wild Silks and their Endangerment

The Marka-Dafing have produced and traded wild silks for centuries, however climate change and human impact on insect habitats have made the practice’s essential materials scarce. In many places, Marka-Dafing kapok and nylon fibres have replaced silk in traditional garments, rendering the wild silk practice obsolete.

Wild silks in Burkina Faso derive from the caterpillars of three genera of undomesticated moths. Unlike domestic silkworms, the cocoons are collected after being abandoned by the worms—it is therefore more sustainable than popular silk production since it does not necessitate killing the animal. The resulting fibre is rough in appearance; its lack of sheen has often had it mistaken for cotton.

The following factors are complicating the initial scarcity of cocoons:

• Deforestation due to greenwood consumption and anthropogenic fires
• Pesticide usage
• Depletion from colonial-period manufacturing
• Drought and other climate change phenomena
• The rising expense of production and purchase
• Declining rates of knowledge transmission
• Fashionable mass-produced alternatives

Methodology

The project documents three complete operational sequences for different kinds of wild silk. These are: Epanaphe from Côte d’Ivoire, Epanaphe from Burkina Faso and Epiphora bauhinia from Burkina Faso. Each gives particular attention to embodied technique, social dynamics, and human-nature action and interaction.

Selected Assets

Items Donated to the British Museum

This project has donated cocoons, two wrappers, and silk from various production stages to the British Museum. They are now available in the online catalogue: