Images(3)

Sunday cloth (Kwasiada Adinkra)

Date20th century

Label TextAdinkra cloth received its name from a victory over a king of the Gyaman named Kofi Adinkra. After he was defeated, the king wore a cloth stamped with a pattern that expressed sorrow for the loss of his freedom and the deaths of his soldiers. This cloth today is translated as di nkra, "to part," (be separated, leave one another, say goodbye). Adinkra cloth is still worn primarily at funerals. Adinkra cloths relay messages through the proverbs and sayings associated with the symbols stamped on them. A few hundred adinkra motifs have been recorded, but only two hundred or so are commonly used today. Some of the motifs found on this cloth include: Nyame, biribi wo soro na ma embeka mensa: "God, there is something in the heavens, let me reach it." Dwenini aben (ram's horns): may refer to the proverb, dwenini ye asise a obe nekorona na ennye na mmen, meaning "It is the heart and not the horns that leads a ram to bully;" or, "When the horns of two rams clash in a fight, one must give way to another." Sankofa: for the proverb, se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi, meaning "You can turn back and fetch it; or, go back and pick"--draw from the past to replenish the present.

Object number81.17.472

Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Hautmere: Islamic Design in West Africa, Sept. 30 - Nov. 28, 1982. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, African Panoplies: Art for Rulers, Traders, Hunters, and Priests, Apr. 21 - Aug. 14, 1988. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., pp. 106-7, reproduced pl. 58.

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions91 5/8 in. (232.74 cm) L.: 132 11/16 in.

MediumImported cotton cloth with painted and stamped decoration and embroidery (flat, interlock stitch in rayon)