Many of the objects in our vast collections of works from Africa and the Americas are imbued with transformative properties. Representing rebirth and renewal, such objects were used during spring and summer to compel deities to bring about a fruitful harvest season. During this time of the year, we highlight some of the most significant of these works at the de Young.

It’s not unusual to see political messaging on clothing and accessories these days, from T-shirts promising hope to baseball caps vowing to make America great. But in the first half of the twentieth century, such messaging was rare in most places—except in Japan. From the turn of the twentieth century to the mid-1940s, it was common for Japanese men, women, and children to wear kimonos, obis (sashes), juban (under-kimono robes), and other traditional apparel dense with propagandist symbols and imagery.