R6144 Jóola Shirt

An indigo and white striped cloth shirt

Shirt (Museum Accession number R6144)

This man’s shirt is made from cotton ‘Jóola’ fabric, a traditional fabric produced in the small community of Jóola/Diola, in the Casamance area of southwestern Senegal. The name of the design is Ehondor elep yaa gakkil or ‘neck of elep with a line’ and this style of shirt is popular in Senegal. The garment was owned and worn by Dr. Serge Sagna, a Linguist and UK based Research Fellow who has carried out extensive research on the Jóola language. His mother bought the fabric from a market in Ziguinchor, between 2005 and 2006 and shirt was made by a tailor in Dakar. Serge wore this shirt on several occasions including cultural events in Senegal and on formal occasions like hosting radio shows. It was also worn at a few international academic conferences in Western Europe. Collected as part of the Fashioning Africa project.

Creator: unknown (tailored for the owner in Dakar)

Place: Ziguinchor, Senegal, West Africa, Africa; Dakar, Senegal, West Africa, Africa

Date: 2005

At the time of writing, professional photography for all the collections has not been completed due to Covid 19. The photograph above was taken by Dr Sagna.