Ghana has a rich history of incredible textiles (check out these adinkra prints!). Today we’ll look at kente cloth and create an awesome multicultural art project inspired by kente cloth.
With multicultural art projects, I believe it is important for kids to make a connection between the original art and their own art: whether it’s the materials, the process, the meaning. or the purpose. In this case, we will look at the history of kente cloth, discover how they create these woven cloths in Ghana, observe the colors and symbols used, and finally recreate our own version out of painted paper weaving.
Kente (kenten means “basket”) is a hand-woven cloth originally from the Ashanti Kingdom, in Ghana, West Africa. Kente is also made by the Akans in Cote d’Ivoire. The popularity of the colors and patterns of the kente make it one of the most recognizable textiles in Africa. However, most people outside of Ghana do not understand the distinct meaning and symbolism, which has been ingrained in Ghanian culture for hundreds of years. Worn by royalty, the wealthy, or other highly respected people, now it is used by everyone, especially for special occasions such as festivals, ceremonies, and holidays.
Both men’s and women’s clothing can be made of kente cloth, but the clothing is used in different ways. The men usually use the cloth as a “toga” (like ancient Greeks), and the women use the fabric as a wrap-around skirt, blouse, and shawl.
Kente Cloth Symbolism in Colors
- black—strong spiritual energy
- blue—love, fortune, peacefulness, harmony
- green—plants, harvesting, growth, good health
- gold—royalty, wealth, high status, purity
- grey—healing and cleansing rituals; associated with ash
- maroon/purple— mother earth; associated with healing and protection
- pink—female essence of life; mild, gentle, tender
- red—strong political moods; bloodshed; death
- silver—serenity, purity, joy; associated with the moon
- white—purification, healing; festive occasions
- yellow—preciousness, beauty, holiness
Amazing Resources about Kente Cloth
PBS Kente Cloth Interactive Activity
Smithsonian On-Line Exhibit of Kente Cloth
Minneapolis Institute of Arts Kente Cloth Lessons
Make Your Own Kente Cloth
Materials:
paint brushes, scissors
poster paints, in the traditional colors
construction paper in different colors
thick white paper
First check out the images of kente cloth. Notice the geometric shapes and bold lines. After the kids learn more about the patterns, they can begin their creations. The first step is to paint stripes and patterns onto their large, white paper.
Next, with black paint, paint some designs on your construction paper. We mainly used stripes, but my daughter threw in a zig-zag:).
These strips will be cut the long way. Also, the kids should fold their white sheet in half when it’s dry (or on day 2 as we did) and cut 1-2 inch slits. Don’t cut all the way to the edges or you’ll cut apart your base:).
Finally it’s time to weave! My kids have done paper weaving projects starting in first grade (age 6-7), and after clear demonstrations have been able to work independently to weave their papers. Check out how pretty they look:
Looking forward to using this as our resource when we explore Kente!
Wow, this is amazing! And I love your point about helping kids to connect to the original art. Beautiful!
Thanks for the idea! I studied abroad in Ghana and am currently serving as a PCV in Peru, so I’ve been wanting to share a bit of West Africa with the Andes. The kids and I did this project last week and loved it!
How cool!!! I have strong connections to Peru- my brother and sister are adopted from Cuzco, and my other sister speaks Quechua and has done a lot of research/living/working in Peru. How cool that the kids liked the project, and what a multicultural experience! 🙂
Wonderful Weaving Project exploring another Culture. Question: I am thinking of doing this art project for 1st graders as a visiting Art Residency. I am teaching a one hour art lesson with 30 students in each 1st grade class. Do you feel this is possible in one session. I gather I would have to at least prep cutting up strips of color construction paper ahead of time. Thanks for any insights!
Yes- I think if you prepped beforehand, told them to be light on the paint, and started them painting right at the beginning (so it could dry before you weave). Maybe while it’s drying you could give them a little lesson about the kente cloth? Another idea would be to use color strips of paper, and just have them paint details in black on them? So you could use red, yellow, and green paper, and have them paint the stripes/dots/triangles, etc in black. Then it would for sure dry quicker!
You could even use black markers with various thicknesses too so that you don’t have to wait on the paint to dry for a shorter lesson.