What We Wear: Maasai Women
Decoding the fabrics for every age and stage of the Maasai community in Arusha, Tanzania.
Maasai Bride (2020) by Aayushi SainiProject FUEL
The dressing style of Maasai women changes as she grows from an infant to an elder woman. These changes are visible in the clothing, and especially the colours, which are indicative of her age-set.
This exhibit explores the different clothing styles of Maasai women through different age-sets.
1. Young Child
Infants and children of Maasai community up to the age of three or four generally wear one piece of cloth tied at the right shoulder. Sometimes, the additional cloth is wrapped around the shoulder to protect from cold.
2. Teenager
Teenage girl often wears clothing consisting of two pieces, one is worn around the waist fastened with a belt and the other across the right shoulder. They wear red and blue color as it is known to be sacred and holy in the Maasai culture. Red - stands for bravery, unity, and blood, while blue represents energy and the sky.
3. Bride
A Maasai bride in her traditional bridal attire. The bride usually wear red or orange coloured dress on her wedding day. The dress is generally decorated with patterns made by adding shimmering metal embellishments. Her jewellery is primarily white in colour. The bridal collar, or necklace is made by her mother.
4. Pregnant Women
Pregnant women are usually dressed in either red, green, yellow, purple, white with hints of black. According to Maasai Elders, red colour shuka, which is their traditional garment, wrapped around the woman’s body will protect the baby and give strength to the woman during pregnancy.
5. Elders
Traditionally, Maasai elders wear clothes with fewer colours, limited to red, blue and purple.
Project FUEL would like to thank the Maasai community in the Losimingori village of Arusha, Tanzania for opening their hearts and home to this research.
This exhibit is part of the Wise Wall Project, an initiative of Project FUEL, to document, design, and strengthen the wisdom of rural communities and marginalized villages using art and community outreach programs. In the third edition of this project, we collaborated with the Maasai, in Arusha, Tanzania, to build an on-ground community centre for the community and bring an exclusive insight into the life, lifestyle, and learnings of this inspiring community.
Illustrations: Aayushi Saini
Research, Interviews and Curation: Project FUEL
Project Partners: Vijana Inspiring Foundation, Vikram Solar Ltd., Lions Club of Dar es Salaam and Arusha, Google Arts & Culture
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