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Kuma · Manden Tee No. 03

Manden

Kuma · Manden Tee No. 03

from £29.90

Everyone is free to speak: that is the oath of 1222. The tradition crossed nearly eight centuries from mouth to mouth, carried by the griots, before being set down in writing with them. The Kuma emblem gives that voice a body: an embroidery-style print medallion in honey gold, earth brown and ivory on a deep black tee, a balafon resting low in the field, and a sparse trail of gold marks rising from it into the dark. Kuma, the spoken word, is a right and a charge. For those who speak, teach and pass things on. Around it, a ring of dots, an echo of the forty-four articles.

Choose your size
Size guide

Between two sizes, take the larger one: the cut is meant to fall loose. Measurements are on the chest, flat, in centimetres then inches.

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

Where it is made United Kingdom and Europe: printed by Gelato, in the facility closest to your address.
United States: printed by Printify, with certified partners on American soil.
Delivery Delivery in 5 to 10 working days in the United Kingdom and Europe, 7 to 12 in the United States, 10 to 20 elsewhere. Two to four days of that are the making, because nothing is stocked.
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The story of the design

What it means

The Manden swore twice. In 1222, the hunters' oath proclaimed seven declarations: one life is one life; hunger is not good, slavery is not good; everyone is free to speak. In 1236, after the victory of Kirina, Sundiata Keita gathered the assembly of the Manden at Kurukan Fuga and the charter took form. Carried from mouth to mouth by the griots for nearly eight centuries, the tradition was set down in writing in 1998: forty-four articles compiled with the griots (Kankan version). It stands among the oldest known declarations of rights, inscribed by UNESCO in 2009 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Kuma quotes the hunters' oath of 1222: everyone is free to speak. The empire of Mansa Musa did not begin with gold. It began with an oath.

After the tradition of the Manden Charter: the hunters' oath (1222, seven declarations) and the charter of Kurukan Fuga (1236); the Kankan version in forty-four articles compiled by Siriman Kouyaté with the griots (UNESCO workshop, 1998); the research of Youssouf Tata Cissé and Wa Kamissoko; D.T. Niane, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. Inscribed by UNESCO in 2009 on the intangible cultural heritage of humanity list.

Part of Collection 02 · Manden · The Oath. Emblem No. 03.

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.

Shipping & Returns

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

In the same collection

See the collection
Made near you by Gelato and Printify. 5 to 10 working days in the United Kingdom and Europe Cards handled by Stripe. We never see your card number.