Man’s Tunic (hu ronko)

The contrast of light and dark, rendered by resist-dyed bars, accentuates this tunic’s underlying structure of woven strips. "Hu ronko" shirts such as this were especially popular in Sierra Leone during the 1970s and 1980s; they are no longer handcrafted there today. Although largely worn as secular, every-day garments, this example features circular motifs that may allude to amulets customarily attached to the “hunter’s shirts” made and worn in this region for protection and success on the hunt.