KENTE in PICTURES & Info about Volta region Kente
Kente weaving has a long tradition in today Ghana. Beside Kente from the Ashanti region is Volta Kente similar famous, and has his roots actually even in the Ashanti kingdom.
Ewe Kente - Although the Ewe (pronounced "Ev-ay") are not as well known outside Ghana as the Asante they also weave many of the cloths known worldwide as kente. Ewe people live around the Volta delta area of southeastern Ghana and across the international border in Togo. According to their local histories some groups reached their homeland in the seventeenth century after a series of migrations from the east, passing through the town of Notse in Togo. Others, around the more northern weaving town of Kpetoe claim an Akan origin from an area towards the coast near Accra.
Unlike the Asante they were never a unified political entity with a powerful court, being ruled instead by numerous village chiefs and shrine priests. Perhaps as a consequence of this lack of a centralised royal authority imposing common standards Ewe weaving is far more diverse than that of the Asante. Although they do supply important regalia to local chiefs, Ewe weavers work primarily for sale through markets. Today Ewe weavers are concentrated around two towns, Kpetoe and Agbozume, with the latter the site of a large cloth market which draws buyers from throughout Ghana as well as neighbouring countries.
Unlike the Asante they were never a unified political entity with a powerful court, being ruled instead by numerous village chiefs and shrine priests. Perhaps as a consequence of this lack of a centralised royal authority imposing common standards Ewe weaving is far more diverse than that of the Asante. Although they do supply important regalia to local chiefs, Ewe weavers work primarily for sale through markets. Today Ewe weavers are concentrated around two towns, Kpetoe and Agbozume, with the latter the site of a large cloth market which draws buyers from throughout Ghana as well as neighbouring countries.
Below are more examples of Volta region Kente
Strips measuring about 4 inches wide are sewn together into larger pieces of cloths. Cloths come in various colors, sizes and designs and are worn during very important social and religious occasions. In a total cultural context, kente is more important than just a cloth. It is a visual representation of history, philosophy, ethics, oral literature, moral values, social code of conduct, religious beliefs, political thought and aesthetic principles.
The term Kente has its roots in the word kenten which means a basket. |
Cloth weaving in the Volta Region of Ghana is centered around Kpetoe (Agotime Kpetoe, Agotime Agbenyinanse), Anlo and Somme areas (Denu, Agbozumey, Klikor, Wheta, Keta), and Mafi-Kumase area in the Tongu district as well as the Kpandu area of the northern Volta Region.
Ewe weavers utilize an almost identical form of the narrow-strip loom to that of the Asante, and there is considerable evidence to suggest mutual influence between the weavers of the two traditions, as might be expected from the long history of contacts, both through trade and conquest between their peoples.
The Akan and the Ewe have used cloth not only for personal adornment but also as a powerful expressive medium of communication. Among the Ewe as well as the Akan kente cloth is a store of knowledge: skills and knowledge inherent in the weaving process; mathematical ideas (geometric shapes, number counting and number series, and tessellation); and the belief systems and history of the people.
The first step in preparing cotton bolls ready for weaving is ginning, the removal of cotton seeds. This is done by bowing and fluffing. The fluffed cotton is then spurn using a distaff and a spindle. The fluffed cotton is drawn out and twisted to produce a continuous strand - a yarn. The yarn is then washed and dyed.
Ewe weavers utilize an almost identical form of the narrow-strip loom to that of the Asante, and there is considerable evidence to suggest mutual influence between the weavers of the two traditions, as might be expected from the long history of contacts, both through trade and conquest between their peoples.
The Akan and the Ewe have used cloth not only for personal adornment but also as a powerful expressive medium of communication. Among the Ewe as well as the Akan kente cloth is a store of knowledge: skills and knowledge inherent in the weaving process; mathematical ideas (geometric shapes, number counting and number series, and tessellation); and the belief systems and history of the people.
The first step in preparing cotton bolls ready for weaving is ginning, the removal of cotton seeds. This is done by bowing and fluffing. The fluffed cotton is then spurn using a distaff and a spindle. The fluffed cotton is drawn out and twisted to produce a continuous strand - a yarn. The yarn is then washed and dyed.
The process of weaving a cloth involves the successive passing of the weft thread through an alternating space, or shed, between the warp threads. The up and down movement of the heddles produced by operating the foot pedals, separates the warp threads so that the shuttle carrying the weft can be passed through.
The heddles are then moved to reverse the position of the warp threads and the shuttle is again passed through the shed. The work continues in this way until the required length of cloth has been woven. The materials to be woven must be prepared in advance. In the past locally grown cotton spun by hand was the most widely used material but to a large extent this has been replaced by machine-spun cotton, silk, rayon, and lurex.
Other local material used in weaving included a thread from the raffia palm. The product of this was called doso in Akan. The vegetable dyes traditionally used for coloring yarns have also been widely Ashante * Part of the text (c) by CEFIKS Ghana
The heddles are then moved to reverse the position of the warp threads and the shuttle is again passed through the shed. The work continues in this way until the required length of cloth has been woven. The materials to be woven must be prepared in advance. In the past locally grown cotton spun by hand was the most widely used material but to a large extent this has been replaced by machine-spun cotton, silk, rayon, and lurex.
Other local material used in weaving included a thread from the raffia palm. The product of this was called doso in Akan. The vegetable dyes traditionally used for coloring yarns have also been widely Ashante * Part of the text (c) by CEFIKS Ghana
Ewe weavers utilise an almost identical form of the narrow-strip loom to that of the Asante, and there is considerable evidence to suggest mutual influence between the weavers of the two traditions, as might be expected from the long history of contacts, both through trade and conquest between their peoples.
However Ewe weaving has also been influenced by and exercised an influence on other neighboring peoples, including the Fon of the Benin Republic and most recently the Yoruba of Nigeria.
However Ewe weaving has also been influenced by and exercised an influence on other neighboring peoples, including the Fon of the Benin Republic and most recently the Yoruba of Nigeria.
One particularly interesting and distinctive type of Ewe cloth, sometimes called Adanudo, features a rich variety of weft float inlaid pictures, often on a plain silk, rayon, or cotton background. Among the subjects depicted on these cloths are animals such as cows, sheep and horses, human figures, ceremonial stools, hats, trees and flowers, and household objects such as dining forks. More recent examples are often quite realistic, and at least since the 1940`s some of the cloths have included written texts.
The Ewe weavers also produced many cloths where, as with Asante kente, the main design feature is symetrically arranged blocks of weft float designs and weft faced stripes across the strips. However despite their superficial similarity, these cloths can generally be distinguished from Asante weaving by the inclusion of figurative designs of the type described above, and by the use of a technique which involves plying together two colours of weft thread before weaving a band, creating a kind of speckled effect. Ewe weavers also produced more simple but still striking cloths using just indigo blue and white stripes and checks, perhaps the legacy of older weaving styles practised before they came into contact with the Asante.
About Kente - The first Kente weavers used raffia fibers to weave cloths that looked like kenten (a basket); and thus were referred to as Nenten Ntoma; meaning basket cloth. The original Asante name of the cloth was Nsaduaso or Nwontoma, meaning "a cloth hand-woven on a loom" and is still used today by Asante weavers and elders. However, the term Kente is the most popularly used today, in and outside Ghana.
Many variations of narrow-strip cloths, similar to Kente are woven by various ethnic groups in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa. Above, we focus on some the Asante Kente cloth. The Asante are one of the Akan peoples who live in parts of Ghana and Cote d'lvoire.
HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF GHANA'S KENTE CLOTH by Kwadwo Boahene
See also KENTE of the Ashante (Ashanti region)
Many variations of narrow-strip cloths, similar to Kente are woven by various ethnic groups in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa. Above, we focus on some the Asante Kente cloth. The Asante are one of the Akan peoples who live in parts of Ghana and Cote d'lvoire.
HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF GHANA'S KENTE CLOTH by Kwadwo Boahene
See also KENTE of the Ashante (Ashanti region)
See also (new window) Volta Regional Museum, Ho (Volta region)
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