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Back to Contemporary Textiles Malagasy fiber artist--Zo Razakaratrimo
Fiber artist Zoarinivo Razakaratrimo and her son Misa Ratrimoharinivo, who is also a weaver

Zoarinivo Razakaratrimo, Madagascar's preeminent fiber artist, is taking Malagasy fibers and weaving them in new ways. "Zo" took up weaving relatively late in life as a creative outlet, but it soon became a full-time artistic career. Her works, such as the large wall hanging called Craziness that incorporates Malagasy spices and such found objects as pens, phone cards and chains demonstrate her threefold artistic goals:


 

  • to break through the limitations of the two-dimensional weaving plane;
  • to promote the rich cultural and natural heritage of Madagascar;
  • to show the beauty in the ordinary.

For years, Zo worked in isolation, experimenting and creating only for herself. Today, she is well-known in both local and international art circles for her inventive approach to textile arts that creatively blends the local and the global. She has won juried prizes at international art exhibitions, such as the Dak' Art international biennial in Senegal in 1999. In 2000, she opened her own boutique, Zo Artiss', offering one-of-a-kind interior furnishings. She continues to make "crazy" textiles for her own pleasure and occasionally for sale.

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Wall hanging
Adaladalana (Craziness)
Wall hanging
Adaladalana (Craziness)

Woven by Zoarinivo Razakaratrimo
Merina peoples, Madagascar
2000
Sisal, raw fibers, spices, bean pods and found objects
National Museum of African Art,
Smithsonian Institution,
museum purchase, 2001-13-45
Wall hanging (detail)
Wall hanging (detail)
Adaladalana (Craziness)

Woven by Zoarinivo Razakaratrimo
Merina peoples, Madagascar
2000
Sisal, raw fibers, spices, bean pods and found objects

National Museum of African Art,
Smithsonian Institution,
museum purchase, 2001-13-45

Pictured above
Fiber artist Zoarinivo Razakaratrimo and her son Misa Ratrimoharinivo, who is also a weaver
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Photograph by Sarah Fee, 2000