The following passage is adapted from an article titled “Threads of Imagination” by Tom Stable (© 1998 by Tom Stable).
- Kente, the traditional fabric
- of Ghana’s Asante people has
- evolved into a symbol of
- many meanings – political
- and cultural, African and
- American, honorary and
- everyday. “What is called
- kente is many things,” says
- Doran H. Ross, director of
- the Fowler Museum of
- Cultural History, though he
- notes its origin is Ghana’s
- strip-woven cloth. But Ross
- says kente appears just as
- widely today in Western-
- style tailored clothing and
- in other ways that make it
- the most recognizably
- African textile.
- Kente is much more than
- just a beautiful piece of cloth.
- Textiles can reflect the
- accumulated knowledge of a
- society or the status of
- members of the society.
- Kente is a reflection of the
- religious, political, and social
- values of Asante society.
- Commissioned by the kings
- of the Asante peoples of
- south central Ghana in the
- late seventeenth century –
- who wanted to create a rich
- official regalia – the kente-
- weaving developed roots in
- the Asante village of Bonwire,
- which today remains its
- undisputed home. For
- centuries since, the Asante
- have worn kente as a
- garment of celebration to
- commemorate the
- importance of an event or
- time of year, donning it as
- toga-style robes for men
- or as skirts, tops, and
- headdresses for women.
- Kente is special by design;
- making even one narrow
- strip requires considerable
- effort. Never mind the
- complexity of constructing
- the wooden loom itself –
- which a neighboring Asante
- village has adopted as its
- own specialty – or the years
- of training and practice that
- weaving apprentices must
- log to properly operate the
- mechanism. Using mainly
- silk, the weavers work on
- strips that are generally
- three to four inches wide
- and seven to ten feet long,
- with the shorter pieces
- meant for women’s garments
- (eight to ten strips) and the
- longer ones for men (twenty
- to twenty-five strips). The
- completed strips are sewn
- together by hand – or
- sometimes today by machine
- – to create the robes or other
- garments and products using
- kente.
- The length of time it takes to
- complete one strip varies by
- the complexity of the chosen
- pattern, which can distinguish
- itself by the number of
- horizontal versus vertical
- patterns. The simplest strip
- uses mostly vertical, or “warp”
- patterns with just a touch of
- horizontal, or “weft” patterns,
- and an experienced weaver
- can make several of those in
- one day. But a “single-pick”
- strip brings more complexity:
- more weft and fewer warp
- patterns. A “double-pick,”
- with nearly all weft patterns,
- and the warp pattern hardly
- visible, requires the most work
- of all, and can take up to four
- days to complete an individual
- strip.
- On a technical level, Asante
- kente-weaving does not depart
- significantly from other West
- African weaving traditions,
- including cloths made by the
- E’we people. But Asante kente
- patterns have distinguished
- themselves in other ways—
- their appearance, their
- cultural significance, and their
- quick spread in popularity
- around the world. The
- enthusiastic use of color and
- intricate work of its patterns
- has made kente a recognizable
- symbol, but the colors each
- have their own meanings in
- Asante culture. Green is fertility
- and new harvest, gold is royalty,
- black is aging and spirituality,
- white is purity.
- The patterns, meanwhile, are
- far from haphazard. To mark
- the significance of the choices,
- the weaver names the pattern,
- adding another level of import
- to the kente tradition, because
- the names often honor people,
- historical events, or cherished
- Asante proverbs.
- One prominent pattern is
- Oyokoman, which uses the red,
- gold and green colors that the
- Asante kings chose for their
- garments. Another is Abusa Ye
- Dom, which celebrates “positive
- attributes of the extended
- family system,” according to the
- writings of Howard University
- professor Kwaku Ofori Ansa,
- who has published his research
- on the meanings of patterns in
- both books and on the Internet.
- “In its many variations and
- background colors, Abusa Ye
- Dom symbolizes strong family
- bond, the value of family unity,
- collective work, and
- responsibility.”