Blue and white shift (Enkaniki)

Maasai

The shift is made in both Kenya and Tanzania, specifically for the Maasai, replacing traditional skin cloths. Women wear this on a regular basis as well as on special occasions. Blue and white are the colors of the universe. Blue represents the sky and white symbolizes the ground. This particular pattern is common among the Maasai of Kaputiei section, but the colors are used by all sections.

Cotton

41 1/2 x 19 3/4 in. (105.4 x 50.2 cm)

General Acquisition Fund

2000.12.17

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, A Maasai Community Adorns a Bride, May 31, 2001 - Mar. 1, 2005.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]).

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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