AFRICAN PRINT (HISTORY)

African print or also referred to as tribal print was started in Indonesia where locals had an ancient technique of wax resistant dying to create patterns known as Batik. In the mid-19th century, the Dutch enlisted a bunch of West African men who were both slaves and mercenaries to join their army in Indonesia and it was then that they took a liking to the local handicrafts and brought back Batik to West Africa. It was then that the style of printing was adopted by Africans who took a liking to it and started to make their own bold and colorful versions with tight patterns and geometric shapes thus giving us what we refer to now as African Print. Who then also later developed new styles such as Kitenge that evolved from this technique.