The Origin Of The African Wax And How It Is Finding Its Way Into South Africa

In town there is a small textiles shop, Jacksons, one of the few suppliers in East London of our traditional South African ShweShwe fabric, but also of the in South Africa becoming increasingly popular African Wax. 

Whilst browsing the shelves, we saw a dedicated, small in stature but strong in mind looking South African lady coming into the shop. She asked for "African fabric" and the very helpful salesman Simon directed her straight away to the ShweShwe corner.

But No! Nope!

"Not that one", she said, "I want the shiny one with beautiful patterns", 

The Wax?

"Yes, that one" she said.

We have our own traditional fabrics how did the Dutch Wax capture the hearts of South African women

It was a rare sight a couple of years back, seeing a South African Woman dressing up like in West Africa. Today it is not. Seeing exotically patterned cotton wax and sky high head wraps on our urban streets of South Africa is a fairly common sight nowadays.

So how has the African Wax found the way into the heart of the South African women? We have our own fabrics, that have a great historical meaning. We will come back to that question a little later.

What is commonly known as “African wax” has been given a multitude of names: Dutch wax print, Real English Wax, Veritable Java Print, Guaranteed Dutch Java, Veritable Dutch Hollandais - The Veritable Wax.

Cornelia Wearing "African Wax"

Beautiful, isn't she? Beautiful and natural! We were commissioned a couple of months ago to do a cover shoot for a well known magazine celebrating African Wax. Our picture did not make it, but there is no doubt she is beautiful and so are the fabrics.

 

Originally, the wax resist dyed fabrics came from Indonesia and were then exported to the Gold Coast and spread over West Africa into Central Africa. They became extremely popular and over time the Africans customized and personalized the designs. Nowadays African wax textiles are primarily made in Ghana and have strong cultural, social and economic importance. That is the short version. But since we are a magazine, that is interested in context and how the things that happened in the past influence our lives today, we are delivering the long version now.

Wax and non-wax prints in Ghana can be traced back to the famous Javanese batiks, that came to West Africa through European traders, particularly the Dutch from the 17th century onwards. 

West African men fighting colonialists battles brought fabrics back from Java

But West African soldiers, who served in Indonesia between 1810 and 1862 for the Dutch played an important role as well in the process of making the wax resist dyed fabrics "indigenous" to West Africa. African men, who had been recruited by the Dutch colonialists to fight their battles for them in Java brought back with  them Javanese wax batik fabrics.

Today the African Wax is globally recognized as a symbol of West African culture.

The textiles are now produced in factories in Europe, Japan and several West African countries. Even though the wax and non-wax prints are machine-made, they have evolved from the indigenous hand-made textile industry of West Africa. 

A beautiful head wrap made from Ghana Wax

The colorful fabrics have distinctive designs, that have symbolic meaning. But few people take time to examine the symbolic significance of the fabrics. The wax prints function as language or as a facilitator of the spoken or written word. The messages one conveys in the print cloth one wears are likely to say something about one's identity, beliefs, or set of values.

Explosive colors and repetitive patterns, bold and bright makes the African Wax one of the most beautiful textiles in the world

 

The wax print cloths are also used to acknowledge religious themes, renowned individuals, historical occasions, popular songs and religious hymns, and everyday situations. They are also used to state proverbs and metaphors.

Some wax  prints combine written proverbs with images to express certain beliefs, values, and social relations. Sometimes it is simply the visual form on the cloth that elicits the spoken proverb. 

A symbol of cultural consciousness and a commitment to African roots

  

The patterns tell stories of relevance to the wearer, such as proverbs, poems and traditional African fables. The colours also hold significance as they can represent social standing, age, tribal orientation and marital status. 

The real Dutch wax fabrics are produced by a company named Vlisco in the Netherlands. The Dutch established bases on their way to the Dutch Indies along the West African coast. It is said that a Dutch trader family on their way back from Java in the mid 1800's started selling Javanese batik fabrics to the locals. Soon a production was started.

The company boats docked on the West African coast in what is today Ghana. The textiles were loved and bought buy the local population. Over decades they became extremely popular and today they are an expression of West African culture.

At the beginning of the 19th. century the batiks from Java were the in-thing and the height of fashion. Vlisco in Holland and other companies in Belgium recognized this potential and created "African designs and patterns". Flowers, local icons and emblems, portraits of local dignitaries were printed on the fabrics.

The African wax represents the West African culture and identity like hardly any other product. The textiles are not only loved for their beauty. If an educated African woman living abroad wears proudly a dress made of African wax in a city like Paris, Berlin or London it is at the same time a symbol of culture consciousness and a commitment to her African roots.

When you touch them, it is like you feel Africa. The song, the dance, the love, the rhythm and Africa's heartbeat are captured in the patterns. When you were them you feel different. You feel like a queen.

But lately an influx of low cost African wax copies has been seen flooding many West African countries. Factories in China, Pakistan and Indonesia are copying the designs, sending tons of fabrics to West Africa. The cheap copies lose their color and their texture after one or two times washing.

The value and quality of the "real wax" is known and appreciated by West African women - they often can identify it by the feel of it - how should we not, they will tell you, we grew up with it -  and are able to distinguish cheap copies from the real quality cloth. But Dutch Wax has became a victim of globalization and open markets like many other unique products as well.

Is it the real one or not? African Wax or Chinese Wax?

Over the years more local looking designs were developed and preferences vary from region to region. For over a hundred years there has been no rival to the African wax fabric on the textiles market.

Does it really matter to discover, that what was though to be a "true African product" has been created and produced by foreign countries?
It does not, because the value added to this product by West Africa and its evolution over time into an African product with its distinct image and meaning can not be overlooked.

Colors and symbols of Africa

And how did the African Wax find its way into the heart of culturally proud South African women and girls?

South Africa, at the tip of the African horn is considered the richest country on the continent amongst other African Nations. With the global recession, political instability and high unemployment rates thousands of African migratory workers are flooding into South Africa, bringing new costumes, cultures and traditions to Mzansi.

Vuyiswa, the energetic lady we met int the textiles store, when asked why she was looking specifically for African Wax  said: 

"Well, I was married to a man from Ghana and he introduced me to this type of fabric. I have two beautiful sons and we are divorced now but I love this fabric."  

you can feel africa when you touch it

"Will you help me choose which colors are best for my complexion," Vuyiswa asked

"Of course," I said

' Wait, I just want to phone my Ghanaian tailor to ask how much I need of it"

In the end we decided on a fabric with earthy tones, that matched Vuyiswa's beautiful complexion