Wild Silk, Island Fibers: Rare Textiles from Madagascar

March 23, 2003 – June 29, 2003

Wild Silk, Island Fibers showcased textiles from Madagascar now in Chicago’s Field Museum, collected from 1926-27 by Ralph Linton. These lamba shoulder cloths are in some cases also used as funeral shrouds that feature in the Malagasy famadihana, the periodic re-enshrouding of the remains of ancestors. The textiles displayed are made of an unusual array of fibers, including wild silk, raffia, bark and banana plant.