Interview with Barbara McCann

This past week we had the opportunity to interview Barbara McCann, whose textile collection is featured in the Conversation Pieces exhibition. We are happy to share her responses with you here.

Q: What was your motivation for starting this collection?

I was travelling through Ethiopia in 1971/72 when I met an ethnographer from the National Museum of Kenya, Dr. Jean Brown. I did not at that time of my life (pre-university studies) know what an ethnographer did, but I certainly knew after spending a few days with her travelling into Northern Kenya, that I was totally fascinated by her work. After a few months in Kenya during which time I learned more about collecting material culture, Jean encouraged me to go to West Africa to collect textiles. In those days as today, it is West Africa where so many handwoven and hand decorated textiles are produced.

Meeting Jean and later, ethnographers at the British Museum, was really the beginning of my collecting.
 
Q: What was your selection criteria? Did you look for specific textiles?

The selection criteria was based on ethnographic importance and aesthetic beauty, and of course the price since we were collecting on a very small budget. We also tried to collect as many different types of weaving and surface decoration examples as possible. This meant sometimes, for example while travelling in Nigeria, we would purchase a baby wrapper, a small item, but often one that showed a particular type of weaving such as floating weft.

Of course, we also travelled at great distances to go to well known weaving centres such as Djenné and Mopti in Mali, as well as Akwete in south-east Nigeria. This was based both on research I had done in London, England and in Paris, as well as information we gathered as we travelled. Many people would tell us, "You must go to...", and off we would go.

Q: Do you continue to collect?

Yes, but not so often, and very selectively. I am not travelling anymore through my work (in international development) now that I have left paid employment so those opportunities are no longer there. 

There are still a few possibilities but one must be very careful. For example, in the last five years I have found a few items through e-Bay, very unusual ones from Liberia. These pieces were probably brought back by missionaries, or Peace Corps volunteers, or Americans who worked for Firestone Tire back in the 1960s.

 

Occasionally people who have worked for foreign affairs, or in the volunteer sector will have some pieces, but again not necessarily of good quality -- but then I will be surprised and find something unusual. Some friends have given me a few very special pieces which I treasure.

Q: If there could be only one textile in the exhibit, which would you choose to show and why? 

I am very fond of the Tunisian pieces, the veils for women. The fact that these pieces are used to cover women in terms of meeting the female modesty requirements of their society, yet at the same time have beautifully coloured embroidery on them to attract attention, is a fascinating dichotomy. Given my professional work in women's equality rights, I have always had an eye for those pieces which spoke to women expressing themselves in their societies.

Q: Can you share a memorable experience of acquiring a particular piece? 

Purchasing the Arkilla kerka, the wedding blanket in Mopti, Mali in 1974 was quite the event. We had been in the textile section of the Mopti market for four days, and had purchased several beautiful textiles. However, I continued to negotiate the purchase of the Arkilla kerka, and had reached an impasse with the seller. Over many, many cups of tea, we finally realized we would not be able to purchase this piece. We had spent most of our money already and had a trip of hundreds of kilometers ahead of us before we reached back to our home in Togo. As we were leaving Mopti early one morning, empty handed, we looked out the back of the Land Rover and saw the seller running towards us with the very large blanket on his head. He was calling out, "Your price Madame, your price." And with that he tossed the blanket into the vehicle and we tossed the CFA (local currency) out to him --the driver refused to fully stop for the transaction!

Those blankets are no longer made, so it is really an example of a period in Malian history of weaving which is no more.

Q: What's next for the collection? Are there any plans for the pieces to be exhibited again?

There has been interest from other museums, but it normally takes at least two years to plan an exhibition. The Carleton University Art Gallery exhibition has been very well received, so we will see what comes out of this experience and build on this. It is a great deal of work to organize such a show, and the awareness  of the importance of African textiles as an art form and expression of cultural values, is just beginning to develop in Canada, in my opinion.