Twists on the Angisa

When I was young and we were about to wear this, it was in the context of a party. But for the elders, this was their way of dressing, but without all the bells and whistles. Then they wore it, and every single angisa had its own meaning, but I couldn't tell you what they meant. I myself dress up dolls, and it turns out different every single time. I have no idea what I am doing, so I just dress them up, and that's that.

Probably the most meaningful piece of the kotomisi tradition is the headscarf, the angisa. Its pattern and the way that it is tied sends out a social message to other women. The language of the angisa was only understood by insiders. Uncoincidentally, this tradition can also be found in West- and East-Africa. Like many other cultural practices, this was brought to Suriname by the slaves. A non-tangible example are the famous Anansi stories about the adventures of a cunning spider and his friends. In the sound bite, we hear my grandmother admitting to the fact that she has no clue what she is doing when she is tying an angisa. As long as it looks good, that's all that matters.

My grandmother stresses that she is too young to understand the secrets of the angisa. It was something for the old ones. However, when she was little, whenever my grandmother and her sisters wanted to make a good impression by wearing a meaningful angisa, they turned to the girl on the bicycle that criss-crossed the streets to help you tie your angisa in exchange for some cash. The only thing that my grandmother had to do was to stiffen the angisa using the pulp of grated white cassava.

The older generation is gone. Now, as in this picture, my grandmother can wear the angisa in any way she likes, without having to worry about the message she is sending out. She still has a whole pile of unused and untied angisas. Some of them are already part of the collection of the Tropenmuseum, but some would make great additions to the museum's collection of angisa. Or should they go to the Textile Research Centre in Leiden? How to pick a museum to donate a private collection?

One wall of her new apartment celebrates the angisa with nine of them decorating it. These, however, are miniatures: not for dolls, but for guests as a keepsake at big birthday parties.