The Pano da Costa is part of the wardrobe of African women; it is an accessory used in several countries across the continent, such as Ivory Coast, Gana, Nigeria, Congo, Benin and Senegal. It’s a type of shawl that is approximately 2m high and 60 cm wide, and it’s used in several different manner: over the back, over the shoulders – with one end on the chest and one end on the back, across the body, crossed in the front, tied over the breasts of the waist, like a narrow or wide band and in a type of apron.
When it arrived to Brazil, the accessory was incorporated in the attire of the black women that walked around in sugar mills, houses, streets and squares, especially in the provinces of Bahia, Pernambuco, Maranhão, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro.
There is controversy over the origin of the name. Some researchers say it has that name because it came from the coasts of Africa (Mine or Gold), others, because it is usually worn hanging from the shoulder to the back.
The use of the Pano da Costa was registered by several foreign artists that were in Brazil in the XIX century, such as the traveler painters Jean-Baptiste Debret, Johann Moritz Rugendas and Thomas Ender.
According to the anthropologist Raul Lody (1977, p. 3), the Pano da Costa is not only a supplement to the clothes, but a way of distinguishing the position of women in the afro-Brazilian religious communities. It is an essential piece of clothing in the profane attire of the women of Bahia, that defines types of economical activities or associations. The women that sell things in the street or vendedeiras and the cooks or baianas de tabuleiro are known for wearing turbans and Panos da Costa.
It is an essential piece of clothing in the attire of the women of Bahia and it can indicate social status in the Candomblé worship places. It’s used in deeply connected to afro-Brazilian religions and follows the colors that symbolize the Orishas: the white pano da costa belongs to Oxalufan and Oxaguian; red and white is connected to Shango; white and blue is connected to Oxossi; red and yellow to Ogoun; white and purple to Omolu and Nana.
The Panos da Costa were made of cotton, usually in two colors and in Madras (plaid or striped). That was the kind used by mucamas and women associated by the Candomblé worship places. Most of the fabric came from Africa, and it was found in fairs and markets, as well as the condiments used in the ritual feeding of afro-Brazilian religions, such as palm oil. With the constant traffic of slaves from Africa to Brazil and the return of former slave to the Coast of Benin, a good market for the commercialization of the product arose.
They were also made in thin texture, with silk thread, some with fringes, similar to the shawls used by European women.
The Alacá or Alaká (a big piece of cloth) is a type of traditional Pano da Costa used by well-positioned people in the social and religious organization of the worship places, as well as people with high social status. It is also used over the shoulders, and the fabric is wrapped around the body, returning to the original shoulder, with one end towards the front and the other towards the back. The colors are also associated to the Orishas. The ones made with thin fabrics were used in special parties at the worship places, and the ones made of cotton were used every day.
It is also known as pano de cuia, even though that expression is not used anymore, because they were placed inside cuias de cabaça (a type of gourd) to protect the fabric, and were sold by black women in the markets of Bahia.
It’s one of the pieces with the biggest historical meaning in the African attire, and the way to ties it, to put it on or “wrapping” it varies according to the situation, the ritual being performed or the hierarchy position of the person wearing it.
The Pano da Costa is also found in the form of wrinkles and tied at the waist. In that case, it is used by people of high positions in the organization of the worship place, such as the Ebambis, women initiated for more than seven years.
The craft of the traditional Pano da Costa made of cotton in manual looms is practically extinguished in Brazil. In Bahia, however, the manual weaving of the product is still being done by new artisans, which allows the Mães de Santo and Filhas de Santo of Candomblé to buy them.
Usually people think of the pano da costa as a one-piece fabric, which is not true. It is weaved in strips, with the original length, and the strips are approximately 15 cm wide each. Four of those strips are needed; they are sewn together manually, forming the traditional pano da costa in all aspects, that is: fabric texture, size, artisanal technique and symbolic conditioning between the colors and the Orishas. (LODY, 1977, p.10).
Currently, Panos da Costa also have other demands for commercialization, due to their perfection and beauty, which amaze the tourists.
Recife, March 15, 2013.
sources consulted
LODY, Raul Giovanni. Pano da Costa. Rio de Janeiro: Funarte, 1977. (Cadernos de folclore, 15).
PANO da costa: apetrechos ritualísticos. Aprendizes do Conhecimento Divino, 2012. Available at: <http://aeacd.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/pano-da-costa/>. Accessed: 13 March 2013.
PANO da costa. Salvador: Instituto do Patrimônio Artístico e Cultural da Bahia (IPAC): Fundação Pedro Calmon. 2009. (Cadernos IPAC, 1). Available at: <http://www.cultura.ba.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/2010/publicacoes/1.pano_da_costa.pdf>. Accessed: 13 March 2013.
how to quote this text
Source : GASPAR, Lúcia. Panos da Costa. Pesquisa Escolar Online, Fundação Joaquim Nabuco, Recife. Disponível em: <https://pesquisaescolar.fundaj.gov.br/en/>. Accessed: day mês ano. Example: 6 August 2009.