MAASAI DESIGN GRAMMAR To put my new knowledge into practise I started to

work with ideas for products. The result came to a

Anna Lewerth
Program of Industrial Design,
Lund University
2005/01/04
Project done in the course: Design in unfimiliar
cultures
Summary
This project was done partly in Masai Mara, a
national reserve in Kenya. The home of extrordinary
wildlife and the Maasai people. The Maasai are a
proud and culturally strong people that today still
lives very traditionally. But development is rapidly
changing their society and that is affecting their way
of life. I got fashinated by the colours, shapes and
feelings in their lifes and started to investigate. How
come we recognise a Maasai and what is essential in
their cutural identity? What is really Maasai?
Maasai inspired kanga (piece of textile worn as a skirt,
dress, scarf etc) pattern. Since the Maasai women
usually wears kangas similar to the ones sold all over
Kenya, with patterns not associated with Maasai
culture.
With this my intention was to show how a ethnic
identity can take new expressions and to create new
items that inherits the qualitys of the culture. I hope
that the Maasai people also in the future, no matter
how they live, will keep their pride and joy over beeing
Maasai.
I believe that by expressing and visualizing cultural
identities is a good thing that will help us to
understand our world and it’s diversity.
Development can be good and/or bad, depending on
what is gained and what is lost. With rapid changes we
must be even more careful to make sure that the good
parts are preserved.

In Kenya, my project was mostly concentrated on

gathering information and gaining understanding
for this new environment. Back in Sweden I wanted
to develop a Maasai design grammar. To make
my findings visible I created a toolkit where I with
simple symbols and short texts are trying to visualize
a phenomena I find important for the aestethics of
the Maasai.

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Table of content

Intro 4 Senses, sounds, smells, tastes, time, tactile 22

Symbols and communications 23
Materials 23
Aim 4 Creativity, inspiration and perception 24
Pride and identity 24
Goal Arts 26

Method 5 The sketches made by my Maasai friends 28

About development 5 Design toolkit 32

Background 5 Product implementation 40

What is Masai Mara? 5 Product goals 41
What is Basecamp? 6 Targetgroup 41
What is Talek? 6 The textile buisness in africa 41
Life and culutre of Maasai 7 Pattern development 42
Culture in development 8 Production 42
Designs 44
A personal reflection 9 Result 45
Printing and dyeing practise 46
Fieldstuddy and exhibition 11
Imprint 12
Exhibition 13 Last words 49
What is Maasai? 16 Thank you’s 50
Shape 16
Colours 16
Objects and home 18 Sources 50
Clothing, looks and fashion 18
Appendix 51

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Intro
This report is the documentation of a project done
in the course Design in unfimiliar cultures during
the autum of 2004 at the Division of Architecture
and Development Studies, LTH. The project had
both architecture and design students participating
and was held in cooperation with the University of
Nairobi, Basecampexplorer, the Museum of Nairobi
and Lamu museum. My fieldstuddy was done during
four weeks at Basecamp Masai Mara in Kenya. I was
there together with Kajsa Nilsson (architecture),
Laura Ross (architecture), Steve Gitonga (interior
design, Nairobi) and Winnie Kaloki (product design,
Nairobi). The other students did their fieldstuddy in
Lamu island on the coast of Kenya.
Masai Mara is a national reserve on the border
to Tanzania. The Maasai people dominate the
population of the area and they live a traditional life
on the savannah.
Aim
To document the aspects of Maasai culture that
are specific, important and central, so that these
characteristics can be maintained in future product
design, architecture and systems whilst allowing the
Maasai people to develop and modernise without
loosing the essence of the Maasai traditions.
Goal
To understand the Maasai cultural heritage and
document it so it can be used as a source of inspiration
and preservation for exploration and expansion. To
collect enough knowledge that I can create a “design
grammar” that speaks Maasai. For use in local
productions, within Basecamp and also globally.

My project came to be about the aestethics of the

Maasai culture. I got fashinated by the strong
expressions and the rythm in their lives. Also since
before I have hade thaughts about identity and how
different subcultures, tribes and ethnic communities
uses it, how it is communicated.

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Method Background
By living in the environment and experiencing What is Masai Mara?
it. Trying to understand all aspects of Maasai life
and culture by interacting with the people and the Masai Mara national reserve is a protected wildlife
community of Talek region. Observing the everyday reserve in the south of Kenya on the border to
life of the native people that lives traditionally as well Tanzania where it’s continuing into Serengeti. Masai
as with the more “modern” Maasai. Documenting Mara is on of the most animal populated areas in the
objects, shapes, materials, arts and more to get country and the wildlife brings many tourists to the
a bank of inspiration and knowledge. Informal camps around. As the name tells you, Mara is a part
interviews with people within and outside Basecamp. of Maasai land where the Maasai people have lived
Sketching exercise to grasp how colours and shapes traditionally for thousands of years and still are. The
are perceived. people lives from cattle and has their settlements just
outside the reserve area. The Masai used to be nomads
About development moving around their cattle over the savanna. Due to
govermental division of land and the national park
borders the Maasai are now bound to live in a more
The Maasai communities are in rapid changing as
permanent settlement.
many other cultures has been before . By adapting
to a modern life some traditions and the strong
Maasai identity might get lost. Development is non
stoppable and something we must allow. But by
creating a way of preserving the core of Maasai in a
new environment or in the rest of the world, the goal
is to keep the pride and aesthetics of the Maasai. The
word “Maasai” is a positive one today and hopefully
still in the future.

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 What is Basecamp?
Basecamp Masai Mara is a Norwegian owned
ecological camp with the parole of “leaving the
smallest footprints”. Their aim is that if they will
shut the camp today, in 6 months no trace that it
has been there can bee seen. But not only does BC
carefully deal with nature but also with the local
community. BC is involved in many projects like
the Cheetah project, Reforestation and the Arts and
Craft centre.
The camp has fifteen tents wich can support about
30 guests at a time. BC tries to do everything with
concern and thoughtfulness. There is no flush toilets,
no burning of wood, and waste is sorted and taken
care of. The small amount of electricity comes from
solar panels and the shower water is heated with the
daily sunshine.
Basecamp does not ony take the nature into
consideration, but they also want to contribute to the
whole environment around them, to the local Maasai
community.
Most of the staff working at BC are Maasai.
What is Talek?
Talek is a small village with about 30 buildings just
20 minutes by foot from Basecamp. The “centre” has
several small shops where you can buy for example
sugar, water, blankets, beads, sodas and soap. There’s
some restaurant where you can get chai, chapatti
and grilled meat. Two of the buildings are bars, the
Country club and the Honey moon suite, the latter
also known as the suicide bar when its the only
building in town that has two floors. These two bars,
together with a couple of other small cafés that has a
pool table, are the only places that provide the people
in Talek with any kind of day and night activities.
Every Thursday is market day, a day for gathering
for all people in and around Talek. The things sold
there are basically the same week after week. That is
pots and pans, cups and plates, beads, shells, string,
and other parts for jewelry making, and groceries of
different kind. The market is in the middle of Talek,
in a totally open space without any protection against
wind or sun.
The outside area in and around Talek, is very dry and
except for the area just around the River route, there
are very few trees. This results in a landscape without
6
any outside areas for shade. The few trees now
growing there are mostly Acacias, planted by Base
Camp.
Talek has a school where children can get educated
up to class 8. There is also a small and well visited
clinic and a christian church. The town cosists of
concrete buildings in basically two “streets”. When
the wind is blowing sand and dust whirl around
with the garbige in the open spaces. Donkeys are
strawling around eating what they can.
Life and culture of the Maasai
The Maasai are a nomadic people that originally
migrated to Kenya and Tanzania from what today
is Sudan. In many areas the Maasai still lives very
traditional and have stayed outside the mainstream
development in Kenya. This means that they to a
great extend live by their own rules and regulations,
and still use most of the old ceremonies. In this area
there are about four Maasai clans. All the people of a
clan are considered as family.
The Maasai are a herding people that has cows,
sheeps and goats. The lifestock is the single most
important thing to the Maasai, that believes that God
gave them all the cattle.
The Maasai community is strongly based on
agegroups. Wich agegroup you belong to is defined
by the time of the circumsicion or marrige. In a
agegroup they see eachothers as brothers and
sisters. There is a great respect for the elderly in the
community and children can be reprimanded by any
older person, not only his/hers biological parents.
The elderly are the ones that sorts conflics and gives
advices to the other members of the clan.
Each stage of life is decided by the promotion
of successive generations to new positions of
responsibility. The chief autocrat of the entire
community is the ‘Laibon’, who decides when the time
is right for the tribe’s age group rituals where each
generation is elevated to a new level of seniority. Each
level is characterized by a name, the youngest and
fittest of a generation and the most elite warriors are
known as IL Moran.
A Maasai man usually has more than one wife and
many children. This is partly a practical issue, he
needs many wifes and children to take care of the
cattle. The richer the man is, the more wives. This is
often seen upon as discrimination of the women by
us, the people from the western world. But among
the older women and the women that hasn’t been to
school, this is seen as a good thing.
The Maasai family ilves in small settlements fenced
from the dangerous wildlife, a manyatta. Inside
the fence they build their houses from sticks and
cowdung. It’s the women that are responsible for the
building and reparing of the dwelling. The houses are
a simple structure, with normaly two large bed-areas,
a fireplace in the middle and a place for the young
goats and sheeps to sleep. The cows spends the night
protected from wildlife inside the fenced compound.
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Becoming and adultas a Maasai is different
depending on your sex. As a boy you first go through
circumsicion when you are about 10 years old, that
leads you into the years of warriorhood. As a warrior,
a moran, you will live close to the other warriors and
their duty is to protect their community from for
example a hungry lion. They move away from their
families, to a small village of their own. This village
is what is usually called a Manyatta, but nowadays all
houses and clusters of houses, bummers, are called
Manyattas. After up to eight years the warriors go
through a cermonie where the boys are supposed to
kill birds to decorate a crown worn during the ritual,
and then together kill a male lion. This cermonie
puts an end to their warriorhood and welcome them
as elders of the community. They will now marry and
start a family.
The girls are usually circumsiced in their early teens
and then married away to a man her family has
choosen. She will go to live with her husband in his
compund and that will be her new family.
The women are responsible for bringing up the
children, taking care of the house, preparing food,
milking the cows and collecting firewood. The men
looks after the cattle out on the savvanna.
The Maasai have a good reputation as a proud
and beautiful people. With heir beautiful beaded
jewellery and bright coloured clothes they stands
out from their harsh envronment. When the british
colonisateurs came to Kenyas inner parts they where
sometimes intimidated by the Maasai warriors and
brought a reputation of Maasai being ferce and hostile
fighters. But this reputation was very exhadurated and
is today not so common.
Culture in development
The Maasai community has long been rather protected
and isolated from the development in Kenya and of
western influences. And the very strong group identity
based on their rigid family and ageset structure has
even more helped them to keep their cultural pride.
But now things are starting to change due to two
big factors, the govermental division of land and the
increasing education. The division of land has led
to a less nomadic lifestyle and limited resources of
wood and graze. The freedom is decreased and nature
suffers from beeing overused in areas where many
Maasai now lives permanently.
Education brings in new attitudes and values to the
Maasai society. The children that has been to school
speaks english and can communicate with foreign
people, they can read and by that get information.
New doors are opened and knowledge is gained.
Also some bad traditions are questioned by the more
educated young generation, for example female
circumsicion. Still many girls are though taken out of
school in early years to be circumsiced and married
away.
Every year thousands of tourists enter the area and
that also brings in new impressions and meetings. By
education and knowledge the Maasai can hopefully
make a living in a envoronment that has changed and
8
is not longer allowing their old lifestyle.
Many Maasai has been forced to move to cities like
Nairobi and Mombasa to work as guardsmen, to be
able to support their families back home.
Among a lot of other things changing in the culture
the younger men speaks about marring for love, and
only have one wife.
The changes are both physical and non-physical. Old
believes and values are no longer the only ones. It’s
clearly visible that the younger generations will in
some way choose to adapt to the new influences. But
even if they do, certain things will still be the same.
And the Maasai are generally happy and content by
their way of living.
Trading mobile phone numbers
A personal reflection
I’m not a Maasai. I’m not an expert on their culture.
This is no attempt to claim my knowledge as “the right
way”. In fact, I’m just an observer of this extraordinary
culture and I have had the benefit to be welcomed as
a friend. I have been trying to understand the Maasai
way of life and by that getting a understanding for the
whole community that is such a strong organisation.
My work is not scientifically correct, nor complete in
all aspects. But I do believe that I have gained lots of
new knowledge that I could only have got right there
on spot. I’m sure that persons before me have studied
the aesthetic expressions of the Maasai. And reports
have been written before. The ones I heard about are
sadly enough not considered by the Maasai to tell the
exact truth. My understanding and inspiration has
gained so much thanks to my new Maasai friends.
Many times during my fieldstudy in Kenya I just felt
like I didn’t want to do anything at all to this people.
I didn’t want to affect them with my thinking, my
western ideas. They seemed so happy, so proud,
and so content. Why should we come all the way
from Sweden to improve their situation or to design
for their environment? But then we realised that
the Maasai community is in rapid change now. The
modern development is getting reality. And in the end,
this people must survive and move on as a culture.
Then who are we to say that they must not develop?
Maybe our impact then is more about to steer the
development in a good direction and to provide a way
of keeping their genuine pride even in the future.
Also, the fact that product consumption and
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production on a local level leads to improved
standards simply by providing the people and region
with money is of significance. The empowering of
women is an important issue in these parts of the
world.

“After a deep reflection on my people and culture, I

have painfully come to accept that the Maasai must
change to protect themselves, if not their culture.
They must adapt to the realities of the modern
world and become part of it for the sake of their
own survival. It is better to meet an enemy out in
the open and to be prepared for him than for him to
come upon you at home unawares. The Maasai do
not yet have all the weapons necessary to confront
the modern world. They must have education, land
and resources to enable them to fit into a money
economy.”

Teplit Ole Saitoti. Maasai, 1993, Harry N Abrams

Inc, New York.

10
Fieldstuddy and exhibition
During our time at Basecamp we have had the great
opportunity to meet many fantastic new friends.
They have warmly greeted us into their lives and they
have been teaching us about their culture.
When we first came to Basecamp we got taken
around the camp, the village and in traditional
Maasai houses. During our first week Mr Pido
from the design school in Nairobi was there as a
supervisor and resource.
In the beginning my interest was much in the
Arts and Craft centre that is run by Basecamp and
Friends of Conservation. It’s a training centre where
mammas make beaded products to be sold in the
camp-shop and abroad. The goal with the A&C
is to empower women in the community, to keep
the good craftsmanship knowledge and to market
a high quality brand of unique Maasai products.
Piers is the man working in the training centre
with the Maasai women. Every day, except for
Thursdays and Sundays, mammas comes from the
local villages to work. My main interest area was at
a first stage this centre and the products produced
there. I spent many hours watching the daily work
and also learning how the items were made. I got
lots of inspiration, thoughts and ideas and could
not help to get caught by all beautiful jewellery that
the mammas are wearing. As a group, the mammas
are very strong compared to the individual Maasai
woman that doesn’t have the best hierarcic position.
By giving the women a chance to earn some money,
they get a bit better status and can help to support the
family financially. And from what we understood the
reactions among the Maasai community was positive.
Piers has many orders to execute and over hundred
mammas on line to be taken into the project. His
problem is that he has no time to train them all since
the work needs lots of supervision and quality control.
The women are between the ages of 15-80. And no
young girls will be accepted since they should not
considering dropping school to earn money instead.
I had lots of input and ideas but felt that I had a hard
time making them come together in a project. I didn’t
see the connection, the goal or the aim. I felt that my
project was undefined and drifting. Meanwhile I tried
to gain as much information about the Maasai culture
as possible. Maria Nyström came as a supervisor and
she helped me to see the theme in my project: What is
Maasai? A very wide and interesting goal was defined.
And from there I could fill my gaps of knowledge and
start to define the other parts of the project.
By knowing the Maasai guides working in the camp
we have got many rare and special opportunities to
experience the Maasai life. We got invited to a Maasai
wedding, we have been greeted home to their families
on tea, we have watched them play soccer and we have
been sleeping in a Maasai house for one night. All
these experiences have helped us to understand the
new culture.
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 Imprint

We were curious about how the Maasai people

and mostly the women would react if we took a
commonly used kanga and transformed it into
something different. We saw the textile as a nice raw
material for many applications while they saw it as
just a piece of clothing.

Me and Laura made ourselves some very basic bags.

The specific textile is one of the most used ones in
Talek region and many mamas wear them. We made
the bags by hand and by a old-fashioned sewing
machine.

We wore the bags daily for about 2 weeks. The

reactions were all positive and even though the
kanga had transformed to something different, was it
still highly recognisable. Many where surprised that
we had made them ourselves. And everybody liked
them. Also the fact that the pattern was so familiar
seemed to invite otherwise shy persons to take
contact and start communicating.

We made one bag a bit “extra Maasai” by adding

a row of beads and jingles. This was also highly
appreciated. Who knows, maybe some mamas have
adapted our bag idea by now...

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 Exhibition
The exhibition was held in Talek on a Sunday
between 2 pm and 5 pm. To make the exhibition
was very different from home. Our material had to
be made by hand and our papers and the textile was
sent from Nairobi one week earlier. Our exhibition
location was between two houses just in the middle
of town. A place where there’s some grass and a bit
protected from the wind. We all wanted to create
discussions and to get more information from the
local people so we formed our exhibition from
that. But also we tried to in an easy way to explain
what we had been doing during our four weeks. We
had put up posters a week before to announce the
exhibition and specially invited the Senior Warden
and the Counsillor of the district. The exhibition was
a success, many people passed by and talked to us
and we got positive response.
My contribution to the exhibition consisted of three
parts. One poster that shortly explained my goal
with the project and pointed out some reflections
of what I think is considered as Maasai. And one
poster where I wanted to create a discussion and to
learn more from the Maasai about how they perceive
themselves. The poster said; “Find the Maasai!” and
below I had painted 36 small figures dressed and
equipped with different attributes. Many of them
with Maasai connected things but maybe for example
together with a modern t-shirt. My aim was to create
a dialogue with the visitors about what they think is
Maasai and in wich order they found the figures they
considered as Maasai. Many good things came up
during the day but they were sometimes a bit confused
by the poster. They first thought that I had an answer
to the question and that I wanted to learn them
something. I had to explain to them that I was the one
wanting to learn from them and that no answer was
right or wrong.
The obvious Maasai almost everyone pointed out
was the fully equiped Maasai in the middle. Not
suprisingly they all noticed him fast and explained
his identity in the traditional way of dressing with
schuckas, beadworks, carrying the rungu and a spear
and having earloops. A a bit more suprising figure to
be certain Maasai was the modern dressed person
with just earloops indicating his tribe identity. But
many saw him instantly as a more modern Maasai
even though that the new more modern generation
seldom has earloops.
Both men and women identified the male traditional
Maasai faster and with more security than the female
one. Maybe due to that the coluors I chose to dress
the female figure reessembled more with a Tanzanian
Maasai woman or because of the location on the
poster.
One man gave me a very clear answer on who was
Maasai on the poster. “It’s him (pointing at the
figure with the cow) because a Maasai has cows, if
he has no cows he is no Maasai even if he wears all
traditional items”. Interesting dicussions arised
with the visitors the whole time. Is this a Maasai?
The person is wearing “normal” clothes but many
beaded bracelets. Yes, they thought he could be a
13
Maasai but not necesarily since the beadworks are
often sold to tourists and others so many people
wears them even they arn’t Maasai. We discussed
the the possibility to spot a Maasi just because of his
length and physical apperance. How time is different
in Maasailand. That a white person never can be
considered a Maasai. And ther was lots of laughter
at some of the caracters on my poster, the figure in
cowboy hat, the superman, the Maasai dressed figure
with a big hair. The personal colour-coding, how
you recognise a friend by the pattern and colours
of his schucka became very evident when a guide
at basecamp directly spotted his friend Fred on my
poster. The figure was dressed in a chrecked schucka
in red and blue similar to the one Fred almost always
uses.

My last contribution for the exhibition was a “buffet-

cage” I made together with Winnie. The dinner
buffet at Basecamp needed a facelift. Me and Winnie
wanted to make a gift for the camp as well as trying
a bit of our own research in practice. The salad
and cakes of the buffet had net-cages protecting
them from flies, birds and monkeys. A very good
thing since the food is exposed in the environment
for an hour or two during dinner. But the cages
looked bad, heavy, temporary and stiff. We wanted
to do something more Maasai to create a better
atmosphere in the dining area.

We used sticks collected and bent while still fresh.

We covered and decorated the joints with waste
leather from the Arts and Craft centre at Basecamp.
(All this with excellent help from the carpenters

14
at Basecamp). The inspiration came from how the
sticks are put together with sisal in the Maasai
houses. The net was assembled carefully from the
inside not covering the sticks and joints. And at
last we decorated the front with beads and jingles.
The shape of the cage is now also more Maasai and
natural then the previous bulky and square ones. The
food is safe from bugs and birds and it’s easy to just
fold the front part up by lifting the front stick. The
cage was used and shown during our exhibition. It
had good response and many persons seemed to like
it (even though the candy inside might have been
more appealing for that moment). Basecamp was
very enthusiastic and happy about their present.

15
What is Maasai?
I have been trying to look at all aestetical aspects
in the Maasai culture. I have tried to structure my
thoughts into categories as follows. It’s hard to
explain a feeling or emotional aspect of a culture in
words. In the end have I gathered a “what is Masai
and what is not Maasai tollbox” where I have tried
to summarize my research with simple schematic
pictures.
Shapes
Visually, triangles are mostly common as a geometric
figure in beadworks. Many different patterns can
easily be built with various sizes of triangles. Also
rows and stripes are common, by itselves or inbetween
other shapes. Probably the big amount of triangles
is due to the fact that they are easily done with the
commonly used beading techniques. Triangles are also
seen in other shapes besides patterns of beads, for
example in warrior belts and long earrings.
Round jingles that moves and vibrates are creativly
used upon all sorts of jewellery and clothing.
The jewellery are often big, noticable, delicate,
free hanging and from a western point of wiev
pretty unpractical. Organic and natural shapes
are appreciated. The house and many objects that
surround the Maasai are collected from nature and
have an amount of individuality and imperfection. The
slightly round corners of the Maasai house have no
other meaning that that it’s created when they plaster
the walls with the cow dung.
Colours
First colour to think of when speaking about the
Maasai is red. Red is the colour of the Maasai, and the
colour of the soil. The earth provides the Maasai with
life and red is a highly positive colour. The colour is
very distinctive and seen from a far distance. Even the
wildlife knows a Maasai person from another based on
the colour of his clothing. But there are some regional
differences in preferred colour also. For example,
in Tanzania the Maasai prefers blue and the women
16
often wear blue and yellow kanga while in the Mara
they wear red to a bigger extent. The story about
why the Maasai choose red as their colour comes
from a time when the tribes in Africa were fighting
viciously. The Maasai people where many and from
many different sub-tribes and regions so it was hard
for them to distinguish a Maasai friend from the
enemy. This resulted in Maasai killed other Maasai.
So as a prevention they agreed to all dress in ochre
dyed skins wich would help them to recognise their
“brothers” from a far distance.
Male shuckas are mostly red with squares or stripes
in blue, black or orange. The female schuckas, or
kangas are a bit more diversed. Women usually
wears many different kangas in layers wich creates
a colourful happy apperance. The kangas are mostly
in red, white, black, orange and blue with patterns
surely wide spread all over Africa. They don’t feel
particularly Maasai. But on the other hand, are they
so commonly used and in such colours that it feels
genuine and acctually Maasai. The viriety of patterns
seems limited and not in development. Other kangas
and clothes like skirts are also additionally used with
the keyword of bright and happy colours.
The red ochra has an important role in the Maasai
culture. It’s still used in rituals and cermonies and
also as a pigment for dyeing leather.
Affection for colours associated with home, earth,
nature and security is dominating.
In beadwork the colours are many and happily
combined. The colour fields are rarely large and
divided by contrast colours. The Maasai hardly ever
puts similar colours next to eachother. The fields of
colour must always be divided by a darker or brighter
field.
”Mt. Kenya of the prayers is the beautiful Ol Donyio
Keri, for the white glaciers on the mountain contrast
with dark valleys, forming one sacred mountain. By
celebrating the pattern keri, the pattern of contrast,
the mountain affirms differences in families, groups
and societies. But the pattern keri comprises an order,
it is the beautiful order of contrast, of differences. The
leopard is also characterized by the pattern keri ; its
bright yellow color conflicts with black, a darkness
admitting no brightness. But the pattern narok of the
dark blue beads is set in fine strands of white; between
the white beads are red ones, for in order to see the
dark, the eye needs the contrasting brightness. This
is how colors “catch the eye,” as is said in Maa. Peace
is known even in war. Bright beads shine among the
dark and beauty in ugliness, order in disorder. So is
peace desired in conflict.”
S. Somjee, Color, song and meaning among the
Maasai, 1998
Colours of cattle: red, black, white, and yellow cattle
This reflects the colour of
beadwork the Maasai use.
The colour of God: Black, blue, Red,
Nature of Gods mood: Angry – Red
Happy (good side) – Black/blue
Mitigative side – white
17
Colours are used in the community to define wich
area of Maasai land that you come from. Different
clans have different preferences and fashion codes.
Also the definition of agegroups can partly be red
into the colours of a pattern in a bracelet.
For Maasai people our definition of a dark room is
strange. They are used to a souroundingg with a very
limited amount of light at night and in the house and
therefore they seem to apprehend light and dark in
a different way from us. Also, the colour black and
the darkness have no negative meaning as it has in
the western world. On the question of why he liked
black as his favourite colour, my Maasai friend Fred
told me laughing that “black is the colour of human
beeings”.
Shadows in Maasai land are harsh and clear.
Shadows under a accacia tree gives shade from the
burning sun. A place to rest.
Objects and Home
The Maasai used to be a nomadic people moving
their cattle where the savanna was green. Their
belongings are few. Central is still their traditional
jewellery (sometimes with a more modern function,
as for example a key ring) spears, knifes, rungus,
schuckas, sandals, skins, pots, calebasses and
stools. The maasai people seems free from our will
of possessing lots of objects. Their home is a place
for shelter, food and sleep. The house is built from
natural materials and contains the most necessitive
things, a place to sleep and fire. In a ergonomic wiev,
the house is a disaster. Dark, smoky, low roof and
other health issues. But for the maasai the house is
security and comfort. A contrast to the great spacy
savanna is to hide inside the soft brown walls of the
hut.
Aesthetically the Maasai are very concerned about
their own appearance and the few belongings that
they carry around. But when it comes to the housing,
the close surroundings and some home equipment,
it seems like the aesthetic values are missing. There’s
like an aesthetic black hole in the culture. This
probably due to the fact that Maasai are nomads and
only the most important belongings could be brought
when moving. It was simply no use in bothering too
much about the appearance of the spot or item that
they would have to leave in a short time. To be able
to wear the identity strengthening jewellery has a
practical issue. It is something you always carry where
ever you go. Compared to our urban society where
many people puts their identity in far more bulky
products in their home. Here we sometimes measure
ourselves and identifies who we are by many products
put in our closest environment.
Clothing, looks and fashion
With visible jewellery and a casually hanging
schucka, that is how you often se the maasai. On
their feets, sandals made from old tires. The sandals
are comfortable and never wearing out. The heads
of Maasai are shaved (except for warriors and
18
uncircumcised girls), revealing a for me new way of
idintification, you recognise someone from a distance
based on the shape of the head.
Earloops is still common among the older generation
and women. But in the younger generation that has
been to school the extension of skin in the lower ears
is seen as a old tradition that has run out of fashion.
The Maasai are tall, slim and proud. The
appearances of their bodies are gracious and athletic.
When the children are about five years old, they get
one front tooth from their lower jaw removed. This
is a Maasai mark that will work as an identification
if you sooner in life moves away from the Maasai
community.
Jewelley not only adorns the body, it also reveals
the philosophy by which people live their lives.
Among the Maasai of Kenya, ornaments define
individuals as male, female, adult, child or spiritual
leader. Ornaments also define communities as
Kisonko from Loitokitok, Ilolokolani from Kajiado
and Illkeekonyoki from Ngong – Maasai ornaments
embody their sense of esthetics (anomalous duality,
the coexistence of opposites in complementary pair
s) while their colour grammer revolves around Enkai
(God) who has two contrasting aspects. Beaded
ornaments often define time since they are closely
related to age sets and progression from childhood,
circumcision, warriorhood and becoming senior
adults. Unlike the general misconception (that
maasai have their feet stuck in cattle complex)
every age set and individual tries to make a fashion
statement.
They are very concerned about their looks. And
fashion rules. They are very concerned about the
latest “trends” and like to adapt to them. The speed
of copying one new trend is very rapid and they are
curious about new jewellery and clothing seen in
the area. But Maasai fashion is not only a matter of
obsession over their look but also a very clear way
of communication. The way you wear your schucka
or the colours of it reveals where you are from. For
example, the Keekonyokei wears more chequered
shuckas in deeper red and blue colours of wich length
covers their knees. While the Purko people usually
likes more clear red colours and wears their schuckas
so they end higher up on their thighs. It’s not unusual
that the Keeknonyokei teasingly says that the Purko is
revealing too much skin. The Keekonyokei wears their
wide beaded necklaces tight around their necks while
the Purko wears the same kind of necklace loosely
hanging on their chest. The colours appearing in
their jewellery are also a way of telling where you are
from. The LLoitai people use for example much more
white than groups from other regions. Preferences
in patterns are also visible; the Purko uses more
triangular patterns while the Keekonyokei uses more
rectangular patterns with big buttons (a hot trend
in the Keekonyokei region). And as a final example
of fashion codes, the Purko often wears many thick
bracelets covering almost their entire lower arms and
calf-bands in two different colours around their calfs.
But the Keekonyokei wears thinner and not as many
19
Different jewellery commonly worn by the Maasai around
Talek.

20
Different jewellery commonly worn by the Maasai around Fashion
Talek.

Purko

Keekonyokie

21
bracelets, bands around their wrists and sometimes a
tight bracelet around their upper arm.
The Maasai use some special outfits for ceremonies.
Skins from cows, goats and sheep are used for special
occasions nowadays since they in their everyday life
use schuckas made of textile. For weddings the bride
is dressed in sheepskins beautifully decorated with
beads.
The Maasai outfit goes together in a kit; you can’t see
a Maasai with only one necklace. You must wear all
of them at the same time, it’s all or nothing. Urban
living Maasai people that doesn’t dress traditionally
likes to wear at least a beaded bracelet to show that
they are Maasai. They are still proud and very strong
in their cultural identity.
Senses, sounds, smells, tastes, time,
tactile
Maasai are a happy, proud people. We where always
greeted with warmth and joy. And they spread a
feeling of calm and tranquillity. They are curious in a
non apposing way and they are open and honest. We
felt welcome and secure in their presence.
The sweet and soothing taste of chai (African tea,
tealeaves boiled with water, milk and sugar) came to
be one strongly Maasai connected taste. Its custom
that who ever visits your home in Maasai land must
be offered something to drink, preferably chai. Chai
is drunk at all times. The food for a Maasai consists
a lot of milk and meat. The Maasai prefer to eat
simple food from their own livestock or as natural as it
can be. They don’t like to buy groceries that has been
processed to much since they are aware of that those
products commonly contain other substances added
in the process.
Whenever a Maasai is around you hear the evident
sound of jingles. It’s a soft, crisp happy and random
sound. Imagine how irritated many persons would
be here in Sweden if you had jingles attached to your
clothes that made noise from all small movements.
Here where pretty harsh sounds from traffic are
almost always present we get disturbed easily when
we expect it to be quiet. In Mara, the sounds from
the jingles are welcome, it jingles everywhere and I
learned to love the sound.
The rhythm in the language, Maa, is vital, playful, fast
and friendly. The words comes roling out in a vivid
stream. The Maasai songs are very characteristic. High
tones combined with lower base accompaniment, the
contrast between high and low, dark and bright. The
tones and melodies are strongly rythmical, repetative,
capturing, full of joy and power.
When a conversation is held between two Maasai that
are on a larger distance from eachother, they dont
speak up in volume but in an almost not noticable
higher tone.
The comforting smell for a Maasai is a combination
of smoke and cattle. I will always remember the dusts
of sweet cow-fur and fire that randomly caught my
nose when out walking. Or the sicky tear producing air
22
inside the house. And that particular smell was also
something I got used to and started to like. Where
there’s fire and cattle, you are safe and warm.
Time is slow in Maasai land. No exact appointments
are set. No one minds to wait for a bit. The pace is
slow and to walk in Maasai land takes far longer
time than to walk the streets of Malmö. Mornings
are early, and when sun sets the day is over. I lost
my track of time, dates and stress after a few days in
Mara.
Symbols and communication
The Maasai beadwork carries messages, from
where you are and to wich age group you belong.
The patterns and colours in a bracelet can be used
to identify to wich age set you are circumcises or
married into. As a young child you get your first
beaded jewellery and by age you collect them further.
Nowadays, also political messages can be found
in for example bracelets inheriting the colours of
Kenya’s flag and also the preferred party.
The ones who sets the looks of and age group
beadwork are the women, often a group of girlfriends
that makes the bracelets as admiring gifts to their
warriors.
The symbol of the moon is commonly used in
jewellery. As jingles in earrings or necklaces. Or
as a bigger decorative symbol in a warriors head-
decoration. For me, at first I didn’t connect the
symbol with the moon because it was horizontally
directed and not vertical as we in Europe are used
to. But then, when looking up one night it all made
perfect sense, the moon seen from middle Africa is
“lying” down.
Cow-branding to keep track of the cattle is a visually
strong way of communicating. The cows, sheep’s and
goats gets different brands when they are babies or
grown up animals.
Materials
The Maasai people have a long tradition of living and
using nature in a sustainable way. (Although, the
new division of land forces the Maasai to stay on one
location with over usage of the nature as an outcome)
Still today, many vital items in Maasai life are
products from nature taken care of by trained hand to
get wished feature. The time consuming maintenance
of the manyatta, the patience demanding beadworks,
dyeing of skins… Maasai are used to work with their
hands with organic, natural “warm” materials.
The fabrics in their clothes are cotton and wool.
Other materials used: wood, horn, soil, calabashes,
skins…
Since the introduction of new materials like plastic,
people have become good in reusing these waste
resources. The amount of invention and creativity is
high. Sandals made from old car tires are commonly
used here and available everywhere. Small plastic
parts made from “garbage” in jewellery are more rule
23
than exception. In our world, the world plastic has a or rectangle, 7. to write their full name, (8. to tell me
bit of negative sense. Like “It feels plastic” meaning about their favourite jewellery and whay it was the
that something feels less genuine and has low best one).
quality. This negative meaning is not evident in
Maasai land. Generally my impression of the sketching exercise is
that it makes a big difference weather you have been
Creativity, inspiration and perception to school or not. Even though the education dosn’t
provide alot of art teaching, the pupils gets familiar
with pens and how to use them. The women that had
The Maasai are creative and full of inventions. When
not been through school all drew very simple line
one has a new thing the rest in the community are
drawings comparable with a young child in Europe.
not slow to copy. They use what they can find and
They also had a bit harder time to understand the
have a different way of putting value into things than
assignment and to reflect on what they where doing.
we do. Central and most important is the nature and
While the persons that has been to school generally
how it’s providing the people with life. To know the
has a better perspective understanding and felt more
savanna is a matter of surviving and things from
free and comfortable with using the coloured pencils.
nature are seen as good and pure.
The men and women chose to draw some things
I made a small sketching exercise with 8 persons.
differently. The men drew bulls, warriors and
4 guides working at camp (Fred, Dee, Amos and
dangerous wildlife while the women drew female
Young Moses) and 4 women of wich one works in
figures, cows and friendly wildlife such as impala
cam and the others are local mammas (Rebecca,
and tortoise. But some things where common for the
Normajoli, Nashiluni and Narikunkera). I wanted
both groups. They all reflected and associated closely
to see how they perceived important things around
to nature and the Maasai way of life. Many of them
them, how they reflected on colours and shapes and
where very detailed in describing the dwelling and
also if there where any differences between the sexes
manyatta structure. The round fenced living area
and those who had been to school and those who
seems very symbolic and appreciated although it’s less
had not. The exercise was received with laughter
used now than it was before.
and enthusiasm. The task was: 1. to choose their
favourite colours and then select one of them and tell
me why it was the favourite one, 2. to draw a cow, Pride and identity
3. to draw a manyatta (Maasai house/houses), 4. to
draw a Maasai, 5. to draw their favourite wildlife, 6. The Maasai inherits a special pride and presence that
to choose wich shape they liked best: triangle, circle is hard to gasp. Never have I met a people before
with such strong integrity and awareness. The way the

24
Maasai wears their schuckas is not a thing you can
copy. No one would question why a Maasai wore his
schucka, it’s just so inevitable.
Wishful for the future Maasai if the development
leads him or her into a situation and environment
less traditional is anyhow to keep that special way of
walking and existing with their head high.
For the Maasai it’s all about the community, about
the group, while we in the “modern” world are more
individualists. Identity within the Maasai is more
connected to the community of wich you belong.
For whom do they want to show their Maasai
identity? It’s only people belonging to the Maasi
that can read the codes and fashion worn by other
Maasai. For an observer it’s difficult to distinguish
what special pattern that identifyes a certain
agegroup. This particular information is meant for
persons within the community. But it seems that
the Maasai also are keen on showing their group
identity to others, people that may not understand
the differentiations between agesets and areas. For
“us” it’s enough to identify the Maasai as Maasai with
no further details. A traditionally dressed Maasai
is easy to define as a Maasai even in a compleatly
different environment like for example Shela beach
on Lamu island where a group of Maasai are working
as askaris (guards). It was obvious that they where
Maasai even though they where on the beach and
Maasai are usually known as a people that dosn’t
like the sea. But then, what about the modern-
life adapting Maasai with no physical traditional
attributes, (no schuckas, no jewellery...) who can tell
that he/she is Maasai? And more intresting, is it that
important for them to be able to show their Maasai
pride and tribe belonging? To who do they want to
show it? To other tribes, to tourists?
I asked under a diskussion with Moses Ole Nkaru, an
intern at UNHabitat Nairobi, what was the best and
the worst part of the Maasai culture. What values are
most important to keep? And what would you like to
share and communicate to others, experiences and
knowledge, from your culture?
Good things:
* Respect for the elderly - a natural part in
the Maasai society.
* The great hospitality
* The ornamentation - the beadwork is now
a big asset not only as cultural symbol
among the Maasai but also as a source
of income when it’s sold to the outside
world.
* The moranism- (the warriorhood) it
energizes the young to take own
initiatives and responsibility.
Bad things:
* Female circumcision
* Early marriages
* Male dominated society (no oppression of
women but the men has a upper position
compared to women)
25
 Arts oriented. If something is painted of beaded on it
usaually has a purpose and the Maasai appreciate
Beadwork is strongly associated with the Maasai. the beatuiful decorations. I see the arts of the Maasai
The keyword is decoration. Although beadwork concentrated to handicraft.
(with glass beads) is a rather new invention in Africa
it’s so connected with Maasai identity that it’s almost
impossible to imagine them without. (The beads
are imported mainly from the Czech Republic or
others.) Beads are used to decorate lots of things
except jewellery, schuckas, rungus and calabashes.
Although you could easily see more areas where it
could be nicely implemented. Some more “tourist
adapted” items has been made and are used common
also among the Maasai, like watch bracelets and key
rings. At Basecamp some things in the dining area
and in the tents have been decorated with beads to
get the Maasai feeling.

The Maasai are happy people that often

spontaneously burst into a song. They are used
to sing and dance at all times and especially
at ceremonies. The singing and dancing is an
important factor in their culture and when you once
experience it you can’t help but get captured in
the special magical atmosphere. They show what a
physical people they are with their vigour jumps and
rhythmical movements. A word that is once again
useful is contrasts. Contrasts between the jumping
warrior and the ones on the ground, contrasts in the
way of moving in the open space.

The art seems to bee limited to the performance and

the decoration of useful objects. No art made just
for looking at it is made, evrything is very practical

26
Warrior Different objects

27
The sketches made by my Maasai friends Moses Tira, guide at camp. Not educated.
Likes squares , reminds of house and is associated with
warmth.
Favorite wildlife is cheetah.
Drew a bull.
Drew warrior Maasai.
Drew the whole layout of the manyatta.

Dee Matanta Tome, guide at camp. Educated.

Likes bright colours. Mostly green because it symbolizes
green land and red because that it’s the traditional Maasai
colour.
Favorite wildlife is giraffe.
Drew the whole manyatta.
Sensitive to fashion and trends, very aware.

28
 Amos Sironka Ole Tininah, second manager and guide at
camp. Educated.
Bright colours, likes green most since it is associated with
nature and health. Nature gives food for animals and maa-
sai live on their livestock.
Favorite wildlife is cheetah.
Drew a Maasai warrior.
Likes the circle, associated with the sun, the moon and
home.
Drew perspective view of manyatta.

Fredrick Lentirr, guide at camp. Educated.

Likes triangles, associate with the shape of tents at camp.
Likes black, the colour of human beings.
Drew a bull.
Drew a warrior.
Favorite wildlife is lion.
Drew perspective view of manyatta.
All jewellery should come together.

29
 Normajoli, mama working in the Arts and Craft.
Not educated.
Likes red.
Favorite wildlife is impala.
Likes squares, don’t know why.
Drew the whole manyatta.

Narikunkera Lepore, mama working in the Arts and Craft.

Not educated.
Likes black and white because it is colours used frequently
in bead work.
Likes round shapes.
Favorite wildlife is tortoise.
Drew cow with branding.
Drew one male and one female Maasai.
Drew division of manyatta.

30
 Rebecca Linkia, works in the reception at camp.
Educated.
Likes triangles, associated with houses. Likes bright co-
lours, mostly blue. No specific reason.
Drew Maasai mama.
Used colours.
Personalized figures with faces.
Favorite wildlife is giraffe.

Nashiluni Parmuai, mama working in the Arts and Craft.

Not educated.
Likes white.
Prefers triangles because it reminds of a house.
Favorite wildlife is Thomsons gazelle.
Drew the whole manyatta.

31
Design toolkit
To summarize my new knowledge and in a attempt to
make it visible I created a “Maasai design toolkit”. Here Maasai Not Maasai
I created simple symbols that explains a phenomenon or
aspect of Maasai aesthetics. By a short explanation and a
illustrating picture my goal is to transfer my understand-
ing in a easy way to any new observers or users. Also to
see weather my “toolkit” could be used as a reference for Housing
creating new products with a Maasai feeling I used it as
a inspirational background for creating kanga patterns.
From every defined observation tried to make a kanga that
The housing is simple, embracing and
communicates the aspect of the observation but still keep-
natural. As a continuation and
ing the essence of a kanga. modification of the nature surrounding it.

32
Maasai Not Maasai Maasai Not Maasai

Matching colours

Geometric shapes

Triangles are the most common geometric Continuity

shape. Used frequently in jewellery.

There should be big contrast between two coulours put

next to each other.

Fields of coulor should be divided.

33
Maasai Not Maasai Maasai Not Maasai

Perfection in lines
Contrasts

Imperfection is not seen ugly. A line might as well

be a bit crocked. Computer sketches are seen High contrasts are seen as beautiful.
uglier than hand drawn ones. Dark - Light
High - Low
War - Peace

34
 Maasai Not Maasai

Disorder / Order

Organised disorder.

35
Maasai Not Maasai Maasai Not Maasai

Personal decoration
Joints of wood

Natural and decorative ways of joining two pieces of

One is not enough. You need many. wood in for example the building of houses.

36
Maasai Not Maasai

Exception- uniformity

Always an exception, something that breaks the

pattern. A lonely Maasai on the savanna.

37
Maasai Not Maasai Maasai Not Maasai

Decoration

Physics

Shaved heads, clear profiles. Important objects are carefully decorated.

Earloops

38
 Maasai Not Maasai Maasai Not Maasai

Protection
The moon

To create the feeling of embracing protection and

security in a harsh environment. Perception of things are different. The moon has a
different direction.

39
Product implementation modern Africa and not just by applying everything
from the northen countries. “
After this reasearch I wanted to try to implement my Free translation from: Ordfront nr 11/2004
new knowledge into a product. To see how that could
be done, both for my own understanding and for Other ideas for products came up as well. Another
showing my findings in a more enbodied way. Also approach for textile is to make a fabric that will be
this can set an example how my work can be used sold in the vestern world. This textile would benefit to
in local produtions, for a new look at Basecamp or our daily lifes by taking the Maasai feeling in to our
just as a cultural source of inspiration for me in my homes and spaces and with that maybe also telling
future work. a message about their culture. Another product
suggestion was a bead curtain to put in doorways to
With the richness and diversity of decoration in the keep the flies out. Those kinds of curtains has become
maasai life my thinking soon led me into textiles and a popular decoration element in Europe now, made
patterns. The kanga the Maasai women wears are not with beads, bamboo or wood. A product like that
so specificly Maasai and as the other common Kanga
sold in Kenya many of them are produced in India.
The kanga the Maasai women chooses to buy are
often in red, orange, black and white combinations.
But the patterns are not connected to the Maasai
culture and the message written on them is in
Kiswahili. Fashion is visible and some new patterns
are right now in style, like for example a bright red or
blue textile with roaring tigers on. My idea is to make
a pattern for new kanga with a Maasai identity. A
Maasai inspired kanga could be a way of supporting
and encourage the Maasai identity.

“Culture is the answer to how the poor south shall

survive and develop, she says. We have to create our
own preferences and to build our own self esteem
from our own conditions. Young peoples identities
can only be strengthened by that we find our own

40
could easily be used both in a modern apartment I want my kanga to be produced in the country. As
in Stockholm as well as in the doorway of a Maasai locally as possible. By that not only will it lead to
house to keep the flies out. jobs but also to a closer connection to the new fabric.
Also by producing a product aimed to be sold in the
country supports the local economy by increasing the
Product goals
consumpion of domestic products.
A textile pattern that speaks the Maasai design
The goal woul be to make the production as
language that I have defined.
environmental friendly as possible. To use dye that is
not toxic. According to my targetgroup, the Maasai,
One or several kanga that can be produced locally.
appriciation and respectful caring of the nature is
essential.
The kanga should have a strong Maasai identity and
be beautiful as it is or used in new ways. Be different
from the traditional kanga patterns but still keeping
the traditional structure of a kanga, the frames and
messages.

Targetgroup

Mainly the Maasi people. But also anyone else that

appreciates the new pattern.

The textile buisness in africa

Only three procentage of the african cotton is beeing

refined on the continent even though the west
of Africa is one of the biggest cotton producers.
Countries like China, Bangladesh buys the cotton,
weaves the textiles, print them and then sell them
back to African countries. This has some svere effects
on the African textile industry. With the result of
many closed textile industries.

41
 Pattern development

Keywords that circled in my head while sketching

where, diversity, decoration, colours, richness,
contrasts, warmth, happy, not perfect, eyecatching.

I started with simple scetches where I tried to find

different design elements to start experimenting
with. Even though it was lots of triangular shapes
the amount of combinations that could be done with
just a few where striking. I looked for colours and
combinations in my photos from Mara and with the
reference of my design grammar.

I wanted to try how my design ”toolkit” could help

me to find new inspiration and how I could try to
make my findings visible in the patterns. I worked
through my ”tookit” one by one and tried to make
one new kanga pattern for each, see previous section.

42
 Production

I want the production of my new kanga to be as

local as possible, close to the Maasai. But to print
them would mean investments in machines and
it’s probably easies to have that kind of buisness
in a bigger town as nairobi. But maybe it’s feasible
to make them by hand in the villages. Then the
production could be even more beneficial to the
Maasai people by generating job opportunities and
strengthening the economics of the individuals. A
smaller printingshop could be a new project to run
similar to the Arts and Craft centre at Basecamp. The
design of the patterns have to be adjusted to fit the
printing methods. It’s a big difference from printing
by machines and by hand. The method of printing/
dyeing will affect the style of the pattern.

Working with two colours.

43
 Designs

There is a milion possibilities for creating new

patterns. And I came up with many ideas that I think
has the qualitys I was trying to reach. But the pattern
I choosed to finalize has some features that made it
more suitable. I wanted to see if I could create the
Maasai feeling of diversity with only two colours.
This due to the fact that printing with many colours
is a costful process wich is maybe not suitable for
a local production in Kenya. Also, many existing
kanga have print in 2-3 colours. Visually I wanted
the pattern to look decorative, colourfull, random,
geometric, suprising and familiar.

The text message on the new kanga should of course

be in Maa, the language of the Maasai. And there
is some old expressions that can be used in a very
nice way. I want the message to say something about
the culture, and the origin, about beeing proud and
remembering your roots. Some examples could be:

I Yioolo eningaua, nimiyiolo enilo - Know where you

are coming from but not where you are going

Mepal oloitiko isirat - A zebra cannot despise his

stripes
Diffferent suggestions for new patterns. Text in Maa.
Enkong’u naipanga eng’en - It’s the eye that went far
that is wise

44
 Result

My Maasai pattern. With simple triangular shapes

I have created a pattern that is both complex and
simple, random and organized. The message written
in Maa tells you to be proud over your roots and
always remember where you are from. Witch goes
hand in hand with my thoughts about the Maasai
identity and the future. The final pattern changed
over and over again along the process and finally
it was a minor mistake in the first screen printing
that changed it for the last time. The variations that
can be done with this pattern are many and other
elements can be added. This pattern is calqulated to
fit on a approximately 150 x 100 cm size textile.

Know where you are coming from but not where you are going

The final pattern that I choosed to print.

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 Printing and dyeing practise

I started with screenprinting four pieces of

textile. I soon realised that the work would bee
timeconsuming and difficult. The major problems
where that the screenprinting frames are rather
small for such a big textile, I didnt have time to
let the colours dry between I moved the frames
witch resulted in stains, it was hard to get presicion
and to measure where to put the next frame down
and the pattern was very complex to print. My
intention to make a simple but still randomly
complex pattern had succeded but it was probably
to complex for screenprinting by hand as I did.
It took me aproximately 20 hours to print four
pieces of textile. And I used 8 different frames
to create the pattern. If this pattern where to be
produced with screenprinting it has to be somehow
industrialised with bigger frames and rulers that
helps for precision. Made by hand, it would be
better to have a pattern that are more random and
repetative. Although the result is nice. The colours
are distinct and bright. Its also easy to make colour
variations and nyances. So different colour sets could
be produced depending on the local preference and
style.

Different colours Screenprinting

46
I also wanted to try another method of colouring the
textile. I used the process of wax batik. This way of
dyeing textile creates a more soft and alive pattern All white fields covered
that kind of encourages small mistakes and should with wax
look handmade. The hardest part was to be precise
when painting the warm wax on the textile. But the
most time conuming part was to trace the pattern to
the textile with a pencil, (although in this case I had
help of the already screenprinted textile underneath
the new one). For some reason or another the
colour in didnt come out as strong as I wished. This
can be depending on many factors like the quality First the red colour
of the fabric, the chemicals in the colourbath, the
temperature on the solution and the absorbation
time. But the result was anyhow pleasing. It was
fun to work with the hot wax and it feels a bit more
like “handicraft” to go through this process. I spent
approximately 12 hours to dye one kanga and two
quarters of a kanga (test pieces).

All red fields also

covered with wax

The black colour covers

the red

Wax batik

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 Screenprinted

If I where to choose wich metod that gave the

most “Maasai” result, I would say the batik one.
This method is also more suitable for a small scale
production that dosn’t need much equipment. The
complexity of the pattern seemed not so confusing
and hard with this way of working.

Batik

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Last words

I have during this project learnt alot, not only about

a different culture, but also about identity and how
that is visually communicated. This is something
that is seen all around us in different amounts.
Subcultures, religions, tribes and others are showing
their pride and belonging in specific ways. I think
this is a need we all have, to express ourselves
towards others, to say “This is me and what I believe
and I belong to them, they are my family”.

By recognising and learning about theese symbols

and it’s cultural heritage I think we can be more
humble to all people, and to make sure that the old
believes and traditions are not forgotten.

Advertising for clothes in a magazine. Maasai earrings

worn in the same way as the Maasai does, through holes
in the upper part of the ear. The ones making the add
must have seen how the earrings are tarditionally used.
This is an example of how people here far away uses
inspiration from different cultures.

49
Thank you’s
Thanks to Basecamp Masai Mara. Especially to Tina
Frisk, Lars Lindkvist, Amos, Piers and Tiito.
My new good friends in Maasai land: Dee, Fred,
Patrick, Daniel, Young Moses, Patrick, Ben, Rebecca,
Grace, family Tome, Karen, Dorrobo, William,
Richard, David and all other amazing people we
met…
Thanks to our teachers and supervisors Maria
Nyström and Pido Odoch, Catarina Östlund and
Anna Stuermer.
Thanks to my dear friends Laura, Kajsa, Winnie and
Steve of with whom I share all the memories.
Mom and Lina for helping me with the time
consuming process of screen printing and batik
dyeing of the textile.
Thanks to Emma Nilsby, Charlotte Lindell and
Moses Ole Nkaru that we had the opportunity
to meet and discuss our projects with at the UN
Nairobi.
/ Nashipai
Sources
Magdalena Boman, Ordfront nr 11/2004,
Bomullshandel hotar design . sid 13-16
Sultan H. Somjee, Color, song and meaning
among the Maasai, 1/30/1998, Mennonite Central
Committee of Kenya
Teplit Ole Saitoti. Maasai, 1993, Harry N Abrams Inc,
New York.
Sultan H. Somjee, The Heritage Factor in the
Constitution. 12-09-2001
Sven och Ingergerd Zetterlund, Masai Mara - på
äventyr bland vilda djur och massajer, 2003,
Zetterlund & Co, Örebro
Pido Odoch, University of Nairobi, knowledge about
meaning of colours in the Maasai tribe.
Appendix
1. The Heritage Factor in the Constitution. By Sultan
H. Somjee
2. Time schedule
50
APPENDIX 1 feature and mode of beauty, decency and pride. The Kenyan youth
is searching for a Kenyan identity to own and project in this era of
globalization where the youth feels culturally marginalized. One
Extract from:
reason for the numerous and violent school strikes, high levels of
substance abuse and falling morals of the youth may be due to the
The Heritage Factor in the Constitution
loss of touch with social values and identity. The new Constitution
By Sultan H. Somjee
of the current generation set has the responsibility to restore that
Ethnographer and Consultant,
identity.
Constitution of Kenya Review Commission
/---/

4. Protect and promote the National Aesthetic

/---/
Protection of elder institutions, the forests and community’s
The third is to adopt the unique traditions of some communities
social order and security is supported by and linked to the
that express social values in such a creative and uniquely African
domain of aesthetics in ethnic societies. Colors and patterns
way that we can all be proud of and it becomes a part of our
are power symbols of peace and order in many societies. Ethnic
national expression.
aesthetic systems encompass beauty, sacredness of the land and
The process of developing the national ethic begins with first
life. There are often women-made bead patterns of the order of
describing and understanding the multiplicity of ethnic and
beauty, metaphors associated with social integrity, and there
community ethics which includes both faith and cultural
are accompanying songs and narratives of beauty, peace and
knowledge. There are community ethics such as respecting the
relationship
consensus of the elders, respect for life and the dead, sacredness
building. These stylized expressions affirm life and the order of
of the earth, spirituality in the traditional belief systems and the
living in communities. For example, the Maasai word for beauty
sense of aesthetics.
is osotua. It’s also a metaphor for close social relationship and
It’s the right of the citizens and the children to own their heritage
the umbilical cord. It means peace as well and most important
languages. Legalize and acknowledge this fact, and let’s be proud
it means a gift out of friendship. The Constitution must protect
of it. In this aspect we are a unique nation.
our national aesthetic values from destruction and oblivion even
before they are understood and documented for generations to
The Maasai dress and adornment is proudly dawned by Miss
come for they must know what a bead, a colour and pattern meant
Kenya, Miss Tourism and by young Kenyan urbanites at the
to the
Carnivore and Safari Park Hotel irrespective of their faith and
African people of Kenya.
ethnic backgrounds. We see the Maasai beads incorporated into
modern African fashion. The Constitution can help to promote
Let me elaborate further. Beauty in Maa is osotua and like sidai it
such similar symbolic elements of a rich national heritage of
is also greeting for the goodness, well-being and prosperity for it is
decor and social functions. The Maasai attire and ornament
the mother’s umbilical cord that we all once shared. Peace is out of
has become symbolic of a national culture and it projects such
respect of the original relationship that all humans and animals of
visually powerful a Kenyan National Identity through one ethnic

51
this earth began life in the womb, a woman’s gift of life and the and sense of aesthetic pleasure derived from our ancient artefacts,
gift of motherhood. The earth is the mother. the environment, rituals and the earth. And for this to happen we
must have time to first understand and know the yet unknown
In pastoralist civilizations there are different symbols of keeping visual traditions of function and decor such as the diversity of
social order. The Constitution is fundamentally about keeping aesthetic systems of Kenya.
the social order by affirming the values of life and security that
we cherish. Ethnic order among the contemporary societies
of the vast northern regions of Kenya is expressed in imagery
of patterns on animals and in the colours of material culture
and the environment. They are the visual expressions of social
protective and care giving structures that support community
pro-life and justice systems.

The meticulously constructed and disciplined patterns of beauty

are given thought and expression in ornamentation types made
by mainly women consciously and mathematically calculated to
compliment functions of the administrators and protectors of
their rights and values. For this reason there should be no tax
on importation of beads and other art material. Today beads are
heavily taxed as luxury goods like diamonds and BMWs. But
coloured beads are material for expression of a national
aesthetic. Protect and enhance the people’s sense of beauty,
the joy of life and peace. The Maasai say where there is no
beauty there is no peace. And peace is the highest quality for
maintenance to regulate society that the Constitution is drafted
to guarantee that we have it.

5. Protect and promote the material culture of Kenya

Everyday there is massive exportation of Kenya’s material

culture. The previous part directly discussed the importance of
beaded ornaments to the Kenyan identity and national culture.
The ornaments are just one category of material culture. We
have other categories such as containers and furniture. All these
are important for promoting and projecting our image of who we
are and where are we coming from. The Constitution must allow
and facilitate appreciation of our own self-images, our art history

52
APPENDIX 2

53