Cloth of the Earth

Deep blue and rich with meaning, indigo is more than a color. Across cultures and generations, this natural dye has signaled protection, healing, identity, and extraordinary skill. Cloth of the Earth: Indigo, Cape Verde, and West African Knowledge brings together indigo-dyed textiles and clothing from the RISD Museum’s collection alongside contemporary West African indigo-dyed works on loan from local community member Maria Tavares, a native of the Cape Verde Islands.

At the heart of the exhibition is a Cape Verdean panu di terra (“cloth of the earth”), a complex handwoven textile that embodies stories of cultural memory, resistance, and renewal. Seen in dialogue with other works on view, this cloth reveals indigo as knowledge passed down through technical skill, cosmological belief, and enduring histories of resilience and continuity.