Kente Cloth

Woven a hand's width at a time

Kente is not woven as one large cloth. It is made in long strips about 10 centimetres wide, roughly the width of a hand, on a narrow treadle loom. The weaver works the pedals with the feet to lift sets of warp threads and passes the shuttle with the hands, building patterns block by block. When enough strips are finished, they are laid side by side and sewn edge to edge, so the blocks line up into the bold checkerboard designs kente is known for.

A full cloth for a man, worn wrapped around the body like a toga, may need around two dozen strips, and a finely patterned one can take weeks or months to weave.

Asante and Ewe traditions

Two peoples of Ghana are famous for kente. Among the Asante, the craft is centred on towns such as Bonwire, near Kumasi. Asante tradition tells of two weavers who learned their art by watching Ananse the spider spin its web. Kente became closely tied to the Asante royal court, and certain patterns were once reserved for the Asantehene, the king.

The Ewe of the Volta Region, and across the border in Togo, have their own long weaving tradition, centred on places such as Agotime Kpetoe, which holds an annual kente festival. Ewe cloths often include small woven figures such as animals, hands and everyday objects alongside geometric patterns.

Colors and names

Each kente pattern has a name, and many carry proverbs or commemorate people and events. Colors carry meaning too. Gold is linked with wealth and royalty, green with growth and harvest, red with sacrifice and struggle, and black with maturity and the ancestors. Wearing a particular cloth can send a message about the wearer and the occasion. Weavers in Bonwire still keep a pattern called Oyokoman, named after the Oyoko clan to which the Asante royal family belongs, and new designs are created and named for modern events and public figures.

Kente today

Ghanaians wear kente at weddings, funerals, festivals, church services and graduations, and political leaders wear it on state occasions. Across the African diaspora, kente stoles mark graduations and kente patterns appear on everything from fashion to book covers. Many of these are printed copies; the handwoven cloth from Ghana's weaving towns remains a skilled and valuable craft passed down within families.

← Congolese RumbaNdebele House Painting →