A Textile Diaspora. I am drawn to stories expressed in cloth and was delighted by this slide show and article about African textile artist, Yves Appolinaire Kpede and his fascinating appliqué collage quilts and hangings. The quilts and hangings talk about the history of the African people and the essential stories of our species, the ones that tell truths inspire and terrify.
 
Yves lively West African tradition of pictographic appliqué textiles are similar to Ghana’s asafo flags.  The Fon-Yoruba roots of his work relate to the traditional textiles  of Haiti, Cuba and Brazil where art practices come from West African origins.
 
I learned about this artist from the wonderful Hand/Eye magazine, which I highly recommend. You can subscribe for their online email magazine, but I heartily recommend subscribing to their paper magazine – they're keepers. Click on the link for this article and you'll learn all about Hand/Eye.