A glimpse into Ghana

By Donathan Prater

Published: February 26, 2008

To some, their brilliant patterns and designs are merely decorative fabric. But to Andrew Kwesi Asare, 44, every strand of cotton, silk and rayon of the Kente creations he weaves are a testament to a rich Ghanaian tradition.

Asare, a master Kente cloth weaver, shared a piece of that time-honored tradition with a group of students at Auburn University’s Jule Collins Smith Museum this week when he put on Kente cloth weaving demonstration.

The Kente cloth weaving workshop was the result of a collaborative effort between Tuskegee University’s Occupational Therapy Program and the JCSM.

Some of the earliest evidence of the weaving in narrow strips dates back as far as 1068 A.D.

The single and double-woven styles of Kente cloth Asare creates on his traditional loom have a story to tell all their own.

“The very term ‘Kente’ comes from a word meaning ‘basket,’ which might be used as a ‘container’ for the fabric,” said Asare, who began weaving Kente cloth at only six years of age.

Two Kente weaving traditions developed soon after its initial introduction — the Ashanti and Ewe.

Other African nations like Senegal and Nigeria have similar cloth-weaving traditions, according to Asare.

“The Ashanti style of Kente weaving typically uses abstract forms while the Ewe focus more on representational forms (i.e. homes, trees or animals),” said Asare, a native of Apirede, Ghana.
The Ashanti story of how Kente cloth came to be is unique in its own rite.

“The story has it that two Ashanti hunters happened upon a spider weaving its web and decided that they would build what they’d seen. After being granted permission from the Ashanti king, the hunters wove the Kente cloth,” Asare said.

While the colors of the Kente are both beautiful and brilliant, they carry great meaning as well.

“Red for the blood shed by our forefathers, gold, which represents the wealth of Africa and green for the vegetation of the land,” said Asare, who in weaving Kente carries on a family tradition of the art his late father, A.E. Asare, also practiced.

In 1962, the then-president of Ghana asked Asare’s father to weave an example of Kente cloth that would be displayed at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The Kente cloth had the theme “two heads are better than one.”

On the 50th anniversary of the international organization some 33 years later, the junior Asare created a new Adwene Asa design now displayed at the UN building, which means “consensus has been reached.”

And while many of the kids looking on as Asare wove, and who later took part in smaller weaving exercises of their own, were enjoying themselves, Tuskegee University professor Mujah Shakir saw several other lessons being taught through the demonstration as well.

“The number of strands used in the weaving help kids apply mathematic concepts, the fabric itself is cotton or some other agriculturally generated product and taking the time to learn the weaving technique teaches one the life skill of patience,” Shakir added.

Andrew Henley, K-12 education curator at the JCSM agrees.

“This kind of event is important because it helps people understand the importance of weaving not only in American culture but to African culture as well,” Henley said. “But you also see the deeper message in the art of weaving where you realize that it’s not just fabric but that there’s a much deeper meaning there.”