Kente & Ewe Cloth

Bonwire, in the Ashanti heartland of Ghana. The loom is narrow, the strips are a few inches wide, and the weaver has all the patience in the world.

Kente cloth, nwentoma to the Asante, is sewn edge to edge into a single cloth with the look of tapestry. Asante weavers and the Ewe weavers of the Volta region and Togo built parallel traditions: Asante cloths favor bold blocks of gold, green and red, Ewe cloths finer inlaid figures of hands, combs and animals. Every pattern has a name. Gold speaks of royalty and spiritual purity, green of growth, black of maturity. Once reserved for chiefs, kente now turns up at weddings, graduations and festivals.

Strip-woven cotton has a fine ribbed hand and a checkerboard rhythm where the strips meet.

Wear it, or hang it. Either way, the room will stop talking.