Kente Cloth: (Mmaaban, "unity is strength")
The cloth employs a mixture of warp patterns that imply a unity in strength. Within the variety of patterns are a host of less obvious images, assigned names such as ficus tree, donkey's ears, tail of the Colobus monkey, lion, vine climber, and belly of the crocodile.
"I have learned through my parents to admire kente and to appreciate that, for most Ghanaians, kente cloths are heirlooms. They are precious treasures given on significant occasions and hopefully passed down from mother to daughter, uncle to nephew, father to son." (Abena P.A. Busia, 1999)
Kente is perhaps the best known of all African textiles. These strip-woven cloths speak of authority and rank through their carefully inserted patterns, of which over three hundred warp-and-weft variations have been documented. The names given to Asante kente vary: named after important chiefs, queen mothers, historical events, plants, animals, and proverbs.
Kente is most frequently seen at festivals in southern Ghana and Togo and has its origins in the regalia of the Asante and other Akan groups. By the late nineteenth century it was often found in non-royal arenas and by the end of the twentieth century it was available to anyone who could afford it.
In America, kente has emerged as a potent symbol of identification with Africa. A kente cloth, or its representation, is seen at African American graduations or other ceremonies honoring people for their accomplishments. Other uses of kente, however, have disturbed some Ghanaians, who see a distinctive cloth being marketed as a commercial symbol for all things African.
Cloth (strip weave)
45 3/4 x 76 3/8 in. (116.2 x 194 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.459
Photo: Paul Macapia
