With their strong decorative arts traditions, Aluku and Ndjuka Maroons place a high value on visual innovation, creativity, and individual artistry.

Ndjuka houses, Diitabiki, Suriname, 1991. Courtesy of Thomas Polimé and Diana Baird N’Diaye

Saramaka woman braiding the hair of her friend in a goón uwii (cornrow) hairstyle, which resembles the pattern of a cultivated field, Asindóópo, Suriname, 1991.
Photograph by Diana Baird N’Diaye

Made as gifts for women, Saramaka combs demonstrate men’s carving virtuosity.

Right : Carved comb made of pali-udu (paddle wood) by a Saramaka carver, Paramaribo, Suriname, 1997.

Left : Carved comb made of alata-udu (rat wood) by a Ndjuka man living in French Guiana, 1997.

Courtesy of Thomas Polimé

Using household implements as interior decoration is an artistic tradition shared by Maroons throughout Suriname and the Guianas.

Ndjuka Maroon kitchen, Moitaki, Suriname, 1995.
Photograph by Thomas Polimé

Seminole Maroon quilts reflect African American and Native American aesthetics. Quilt artist Alice Fae Lozano is one of the few Seminole Maroon women who continue African American needle arts traditions.

Quilt square made by Alice Fae Lozano, 1998.
Courtesy of Alice Fae Lozano

Alice Fae Lozano with quilt, Kerville, Texas, 1998.
Courtesy of Shirley Mock, The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio

West and Central African ideas about art and beauty give contemporary Maroon cultures a strong African quality without duplicating any specific African society.