In the Dogon cosmology of Mali, Nommo is the African equivalent of Prometheus, the Greek god of fire. The status of a shaman is sometimes bestowed on traditional metalworkers — blacksmiths who control fire to make sacred ritual objects: masks, rain-wands, clan amulets and instruments to summon the ancestors. This cloak is an imaginary tribute to that ancient shamanic tradition of African metal craftsmen and blacksmiths.

The colours and shapes of the fabric evoke molten metal, fire, blood, charcoal and ash; the textures and patterns carry subtle references to African totemism, healing rites and custom, drawn from research and interviews with traditional healers.

The same figure — the smith as keeper of sacred fire — recurs in the speculative writings of the Zulu sanusi Credo Mutwa, who traced metalwork to Ngungi, the smith of the gods. Like the Dogon myth of Nommo, Mutwa’s account is not historically verified; it belongs to a lore now often read within the Afrofuturist tradition. Reference: V. C. Mutwa, Let Not My Country Die (1986).