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.
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. |
No comments:
Post a Comment