Kwasi Nyamekye was born and raised in a small town called Agotime Abenyinase in the Volta region of Ghana. A member of the Ewé tribal culture, Kwasi Nyamekye is 32 years old and is married with two children. Since 1995, Kwasi has been working together with his younger brother Yaw Oduro creating kente cloth. Yaw Oduro is 19 years old and has completed his Junior and Senior Secondary education. Weaving kente cloth is the primary source of income for Kwasi and Yaw. During KWABLA’s visit to Ghana, Kwasi revealed that he had actually turned down an opportunity to take a more lucrative job in one of the major cities because of his passion for creating kente cloth and the trade’s traditional value. The Ghanaian tradition of creating kente cloth has existed for hundreds of years. During this time, the techniques for weaving kente cloth have been passed on from one generation to another within families. This is the case with Kwasi Nyamekye and his brother Yaw Oduro, who are the latest in a long line of kente cloth weavers in their family. Kwasi and brother Yaw continue to weave their kente cloth in the most traditional of methods, utilizing a wooden horizontal loom and doing all their weaving by hand. With the exception of the thread, the remaining tools and materials used in the weaving process are all created or designed by Kwasi and Yaw. This hand weaving is very difficult and time consuming, for these reasons it is a fast-dying skill in Ghana. The artist weavers refer to kente cloth as Nwentoma (woven cloth) to distinguish it from the factory-made cloth (Ntoma) and the Adinkra cloth that is stamped (Ntiamu ntoma) by the block-print technique. The Nwentoma is of various categories: Ahwepan (plain weave); Topreko (plain weave with simple weft inlays); and Faprenu (double weave technique that hides the warp threads). The warp threads are laid in such a fashion to give the kente cloth a name and meaning. At the same time, the weft designs or motifs are also given a name and meaning. These names and meanings reflect beliefs of the Ashanti and Ewé people, historical events, and social and political organization within Ghanaian society. In some cases, these kente cloth patterns are named after tribal war heroes. Following are the steps to create traditional Ghanaian kente cloth. First, locally grown cotton is spun into yarn, usually by the women of the village. The yarn is then scrubbed with starch and allowed to dry before it is wound onto bobbins. The yarn may be dyed in many colors. Besides cotton, silk, lurex, and rayon are used as yarn for weaving kente. The kente cloth is woven on a narrow horizontal loom. The loom usually uses four heddles (one of the sets of vertical cords in a loom, forming the principal part of the harness that guides the threads), but in special cases, six or seven heddles may be used. The cloth is woven into a narrow strip (called ntomaban or bankuo) that is about 3-5 inches wide and about 5-6 feet long. Several strips are sewn together to make a wider piece of cloth for both men and women. These cloths are worn as traditional apparel or can be sewn into more contemporary shirts, blouses, and skirts. A man's cloth may contain up to 24 strips and measure about 5x8 feet. The woman's two-piece cloth may contain 8-12 strips each piece. Kente cloth is most commonly worn during special occasions and festivals in Ghana, and is a symbolic representation of the Ashanti and Ewé tribes. Ghanaians in general are very passionate about kente cloth as an “objet d'art”. The Ghanaian government usually presents kente cloth to foreign dignitaries during official state visits to Ghana. The largest known kente cloth, measuring about 12X20 feet, was presented to the United Nations as a gift from Ghana in 1960. To view a catalogue of hand-woven kente cloth created by Kwasi Nyamekye, click on the link at the bottom of the page. |
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| Catalogue of Hand-Woven Kente Cloth by Kwasi Nyamekye | |
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