Some more of my weaving.

this are final samples that are going on my presentation boards.

My work

Here are some pictures of my work and weaving has defiantly influenced me.

The Britsh Musuem London

Recently i have visited London and have gone to the British museum London for the array of African Textiles.
Whilst i was there i saw El Anatsui Man's cloth it really is WOW..
The scale and size of this piece is work is incredible it was hung from the ceiling with a metal frame work on the back supporting this cloth.
Its very structured and has lots of form.
If ever you get a chance to go and visit his work you definitely is a must.

Within the museum the collection of African Textiles are very board from cloth to bronze work and of course masks.




some of the African textiles in the Museum.



El Anatsui

El Anatsui is an artist who work is truly amazing. Born in 1944 he is a Ghanian sculptor born in Anyako and trained at the college of art, university of science and technology in Kumasi in central Ghana. He began teaching at the university of Nigeria in 1975.

One day 10 years he was driving home and came among a pill of garbage, garbage not being unusual in Africa he collected a bag and of he went. Not knowing that 10 years on it would influence his work and would be in museum.

Anatsui began experimenting with the metal bottle tops in the bag by folding, cutting their pliable metal into flat swatches and then stitching these together with copper wire, weaving then together the result is it began to grow to resemble cloth.



image from tumblr.com



The narrow banded compositions of  Anatsui work are recognisable variations of Kente cloth the emblematic fabric of Ghana.

His work is truly magnificent and is on a scale of its own using the tradition of weaving he has created some beautiful pieces of work.The detail of each component and the way in which it has been made is  and technique within  it's self.
His work can be found in Museums around the world.




 

Margo Selby

image from www.flowgaller.co.uk

Margo Selby over the last decade has been developing fabric constructions and textures on hand looms, Margo trained at Chelsea College of art and design and then followed with a postgraduate degree at the Royal College of art. So responding to the overwhelming response and demand for her fabric from her degree show Margo began to develop a relationship with weaving mills to explore the possibilities of production.
It was during this time that Margo united her innovative hand-woven structures. Margo launched her first collection in 2003, in 2007 she opened her stylish gallery and showroom in London.

image from www.mydeco.com

Since then she has rapidly became recognised for her trademark patterns and textures she creates.

Designer Rami Tareef

www.designboom.com

Designer Rami Tareef born in Israel in 1980, graduated b.des degree from the industrial design department, Bezalel academy of art and design Jerusalem. Designer at D-vision program for development and industrial design creates chairs with geometric patterns by weaving and wrapping cords around the steel frames of the chairs. These chairs are the product of Tareefs COD project. (crafts oriented design) in which this designer aims to update and preserve the traditional weaving technique. His work is so contemporary and up to date but is has kept the tradition of weaving. He has exhibited in many places his last was at the  Super design gallery for London's design week in 2012.

Looking at weaving in a contemporary way.

I have started to look at designers who works with weave or has been inspired by weaving and how these designers are making weave more contemporary and update but still using the traditional weaving techniques.




image from www.stylebistom.com

  Looking through view magazine i came across this image.
This is Dolce and Gabbana's spring-summer 13 collection
i then went looking for more of his collection and its was not only full of bold stripes, straw and woven manipulated pieces turned into bustiers re-working the classic basket but the full use of exciting summer colours and the embroidery work makes this collection full of fun.
The methods of construction here is very much an influence on my own work.

image from www.trendfashionstyle.com



image from www.stylebistro.com



Yarns for weaving.



image from watradehub.com



The yarns for weaving come in various forms and qualities, in the past these were spun from local grown cotton or unravelled from cotton and silk cloths imported from different countries. Various colours of yarn maybe combined in particular ways to reflect the symbolic significance of the cloth. The quality of the yarns used in the weaving of the cloth reflects on the level of prestigious and are most highly valued.

Tradition is that kente cloth is woven manly by men, woman in the past played a significant role by spinning the cotton into yarns and the dying of the yarn to get it's desired colour. Today factories have replaced this so they mainly sew the strips together.

Weaving equipment



Weaving apparatus are hand made by the weavers themselves or by others who have specialized in making equipment . A set of weaving apparatus will include the loom, which is normally constructed with wood. A set of two or six heddles attrached to threads with pulleys inserted in them, beaters and a sword stick. These looms like motifs in cloth have their own symbloic meanings and are accorded with a great deal of respect.

images from www.true-progress.com



Authentic printed kente cloth on vans.

www.theothersideofthepillow.bigcartel.com

As i was searching the internet i came across these authentic Kente cloth print vans made in the USA in 1993.

Kente cloth

Woman may either wear one larger piece of Kente cloth or a combination of two or three pieces ranging from 5-12 strips, 20 inches to 48 inches wide on average 6ft long. These are wrapped around the body either with or without a matching blouse








www.ghanaweb.com

Ewe Kente cloth.

www.ghanaculture.gov.gh

Ewe Kente cloth are some of the most highly prized by collectors on African textiles worldwide for the sheer skill and variety their Exhibit.

Symbolic meanings of Kente cloth.

 Kente cloth is not only used for its beauty but also for its symbolic significance. Each cloth has a name and a meaning.  Kente cloth also known locally as Nwentoma is a type of silk fabric made of inter-woven cloth stipes. It is an icon of African cultural heritage around the world and is identified by its dazzling multicoloured patterns of bright colours, geometric shapes and bold designs and It is used for its symbloic significance. Names and meanings are dervied from historical events, individual achievements proverbs, philosophical concepts, oral hiterature, mortal values and certain attributes of plant and animal life. Patterns and motifs are generally created by weavers who also assign names and meanings to them. Patterns and motifs are sometimes given by weavers who may obtain them through dreams and during contemplative moments when they are said to be in communion with the spiritual world. The meanings of the colours are. 

Black- Maturation intensified spirtual energy.
 Blue- Peacefulness, harmony and love.
Green- Vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth, spirtual renewall.
Gold- Royalty, wealth, high status, glory, spirtual purity.
Grey- Healing and cleansing rituals associated with ash.
Maroon- The colour of mother earth, associated with healing.



Pink- Associated with the female sense of life, a mild gentle aspect of life.

Purple- Associated with the feminine aspect of life, usually worn by women.

Red- Political and spiritful moods, bloodshed, sacrifical rites and death.

Silver- Serenity, purity, joy associated with the moon.

White- Purification, sanctification rites and festive occasions.

Yellow- Preciousness, royaly, wealth and fertillity.

 image from exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu

Men's Kente cloth.

This cloth design is called Adweneasa

which can be translated as my skills are exhausted.

From a collection of the Fowler musuem

of Cultural history.



Kente cloth

Weavers working with Kente cloth.

Kente is a brillantly coloured fabric that is hand woven by Ghanaian weavers. The origins of Kente cloth date back to the 12th century, Where it was worn by kings and queens and important figures in Ghana's society during cermonial events and speacil occassions. The word Kente comes from the word Kenten which means basket. The country of Ghana being the primary producer of Kente cloth today, and from various regions of the country comes different styles of cloth namely Ashanki Kente from the central Kumasi area and Ewe Kente from Eastern Volta region.

Each strip of Kente is woven entirely by hand on a individual strip loom. Everything you see on Kente cloth the stipes, letters, symbols and patterns is woven into stripes by hand. The individual stripes are then sewn together along their edge to form larger pieces of cloth. The cloth is known as woman's cloth and men's cloth which are still worn today in Ghana as a garment wrapped around the body.

King wearing Kente cloth also known as wrapped in pride.

The history of West African weaving.

African weaving was originally used as a domestic process, families would weave to make clothes and shelter. In its beauty and originality of design, the narrow strip weaving of West Africa is on a level with other indigenous art forms such as bronzes and masks for which this region is justly famous. This unique system of making large cloths, for clothing, domestic and ceremonial use, by sewing together narrow woven strips, usually less then five inchs wide, is of ancient origin. Well preserved cloths date from as far back as the eleventh century AD show the remarakable continuity of tribal designs.
The various narrow strip weaving traditions which we can find today within the territorial limits of modern Ghana all have roots and history. We may assume there exists a considerable body of literary and documentary source of material both Arabic and European. Looking at the early history in West Africa of the craft of narrow weaving in Ghana today. Although cotton cloth is thought to have been woven in Indian subcontinent first, the first evidence of cotton being used in Africa appaers to have been in the sudanese nile valley which was roughly between 500 BC and AD 300.

image from roxfordbooks.com
An early Ewe cotton cloth from Kpandu, Ghana. This intersting cloth has a mixture of background strips with the dark dense warp patterns typical of Ewe weaving.