Black model wearing the Kalunga black tee, Dikenga Collection by Bana Bilaka

Kalunga — Dikenga Tee No. 05

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£29.90
£29.90
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Black model wearing the Kalunga black tee, Dikenga Collection by Bana Bilaka
  • Black model wearing the Kalunga black tee, Dikenga Collection by Bana Bilaka
  • Kalunga black tee flat-lay on linen, Dikenga Collection by Bana Bilaka
  • Kalunga black tee on a wooden hanger against a terracotta wall, Dikenga Collection by Bana Bilaka
  • Kalunga emblem, embroidery-style Kongo medallion with a gold sun above the silver water line and its fragmented reflection below, indigo and silver on black
  • Black model wearing the Kalunga black tee, Dikenga Collection by Bana Bilaka
  • Kalunga black tee flat-lay on linen, Dikenga Collection by Bana Bilaka
  • Kalunga black tee on a wooden hanger against a terracotta wall, Dikenga Collection by Bana Bilaka
  • Kalunga emblem, embroidery-style Kongo medallion with a gold sun above the silver water line and its fragmented reflection below, indigo and silver on black
Kalunga — Dikenga Tee No. 05

Kalunga — Dikenga Tee No. 05

£29.90
£29.90
Size

Kalunga is the water threshold between the world of the living and the world of the ancestors: the line every sun of the dikenga must cross. Those who crossed the Atlantic carried it with them; by the tradition of the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, the cosmogram is found pierced into the floorboards of the church. On the Kalunga emblem, a small gold sun burns in an indigo night above a bold silver water line, while below it the same sun breaks into shimmering fragments: not gone, reflected. This is the signature piece of the collection, made for the diaspora above all. The line connects, it does not separate.

(Français)

La Kalunga est le seuil d'eau entre le monde des vivants et celui des ancêtres : la ligne que chaque soleil du dikenga doit traverser. Ceux qui ont traversé l'Atlantique l'ont emportée avec eux ; selon la tradition de la First African Baptist Church de Savannah, on retrouve le cosmogramme percé dans le plancher de l'église. Sur l'emblème Kalunga, imprimé effet broderie sur noir profond, un petit soleil d'or brûle dans une nuit indigo au-dessus d'une ligne d'eau argentée, et en dessous, le même soleil se brise en fragments scintillants : pas disparu, reflété. La pièce signature de la collection, pour la diaspora avant tout. La ligne relie, elle ne sépare pas.

Ce que ça signifie / What it means

In Kongo cosmology, life is one sun moving through four moments: conceived at midnight (Musoni), born at dawn (Kala), at full strength at noon (Tukula), passed to the world of the ancestors at dusk (Luvemba). This cycle is the dikenga: one sun, four moments, and the Kalunga line, the water threshold between the worlds, which the cycle crosses without ever stopping.

Un seul soleil, quatre moments, et la ligne Kalunga, ce seuil d'eau entre les mondes, que le cycle traverse sans jamais s'arrêter. D'après la cosmologie kongo documentée par K.K. Bunseki Fu-Kiau, African Cosmology of the Bântu-Kôngo.

Part of Collection 01 · Dikenga : The Four Suns. Emblème No. 05 of 5.

Fabric & Fit

Stanley/Stella Creator 2.0 — 100% organic combed ring-spun cotton (GOTS-certified fabric), 180 gsm single jersey, fabric washed. Colour: Black. Medium fit, true to size.

Size Guide (cm)

Size Half chest Body length
S 49.5 69
M 53.5 73
L 56.5 75
XL 59.5 77
2XL 63.5 79
3XL 67.5 81

Shipping & Returns

Printed to order in the UK · dispatched in 2–5 working days · UK delivery 3–7 days. 30-day returns. Wash inside out, do not iron the print.

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