Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Textile Arts
The interesting film
Quand les Étoiles Rencontrent la Mer
(When the
Stars Meet the Sea), directed by the Malagasy Raymond Raja-onarivelo,
is the story of a young boy born during a solar eclipse.
Textiles have always played a huge part in Malagasy society, with some types of cloth even
being imbued, it is believed, with supernatural powers. The Merina used cocoons collec-
ted from the wild silkworm to make highly valued textiles called
lamba mena
(red silk).
The silks were woven in many colours and pattern combinations, and in the past had strong
links with royal prestige, expressed by the colour red. Worn by the aristocracy in life and
death,
lamba mena
were also used in burial and reburial ceremonies.
Lamba
are still used in funeral rites and you'll see red-and-white cloths tied to sacred
trees across the country, tokens of gratitude to ancestors for fulfilled prayers.
