Mapping Interconnected Threads: Contemporary Dioula Handwoven Cloth, Motif Development, and Creativity in Côte d’Ivoire 1970-2023

Contemporary handwoven textiles are the product of interwoven design processes, cultural influences, and economic dynamics. This study centres weaver creativity as a pluriversal lens to explore these intricate relationships and understand the external forces that drive change in contemporary Indigenous handwoven design. By collaborating with a group of Indigenous weavers from the village of Waraniéné in Northern Côte d’Ivoire, this study blends ethnographic, oral, material, and archival-based research methods with interdisciplinary approaches. Through a theoretical framework that positions textiles as Archives, this thesis challenges conventional interpretations of commercial cloth woven between 1970 and 2023, highlighting the diverse knowledges, creative improvisations, and contexts that can be utilised to understand the diachronic changes in aesthetic pattern.

This study is framed by the concepts of the haptic, rhapsodic, and gestural, which form the basis of a critical practice-based methodology developed specifically for this study, called motif mapping. By systematically documenting the process of motif improvisation, motif mapping sheds light on the dynamic nature of textile design, which is shaped by the reinterpretation and exchange of knowledge among weavers. Acknowledging the intricate interplay between local handwoven industries and global market dynamics, this research provides a platform to explore the challenges encountered by Indigenous craftspeople as they navigate their creative practices within the global marketplace.