Adanwomase

Adanwomase
Kente Clothing Weaving Village
Adanwomase
Coordinates: 6°49′00″N 1°28′45″W / 6.81667°N 1.47917°W / 6.81667; -1.47917Coordinates: 6°49′00″N 1°28′45″W / 6.81667°N 1.47917°W / 6.81667; -1.47917
City-State  Ashanti
District Kwabre East
Elevation 712 ft (217 m)
Population (2014)
 • Ethnicity Ashanti people
 • Nationality Ashanti
Time zone Greenwich Mean Time
 • Summer (DST) GMT (UTC)

Adanwomase is a kente clothing weaving village in the Kwabre East District of Ashanti. Adanwomase is about 27 kilometers northeast Kumasi the capital of Ashanti. Adanwomase is noted for Kente clothing weaving with villages like Bonwire which is about 2 kilometers away.[1] Adanwomase is also known for the Adanwomase Senior High School.[2]

History

In 1697, the Ashanti Emperor-King, desiring hand-woven cloth, commissioned one of his sub-chiefs, the Akyimpimhene, to send people from the towns of Adanwomase, Asotwe, Bonwire, and Wonoo to study strip-weaving in Bontuku, a small village in present-day Ivory Coast. When they returned, the apprentices were given swatches of fabric with specific patterns on them that they were told to study and be able to recreate on demand. These patterns were called Sesea and are considered to be the first examples of true Ashanti Kente cloth. The original centuries-old Sesea swatches are to this day kept in the Kente Chief’s house in Adanwomase.

Since the first apprentices returned from Bontuku, Adanwomase has been the royal weaving village for the Ashanti Emperor-King. The apprentices spread the art of Kente-weaving to their friends and families and in the process added their own designs and colors, creating the cloth that today is recognized worldwide as Ashanti Kente.

Present day and kente weaving

Theora Video of Ashanti Kente clothing tailor preparing Kente attire in Adanwomase Kente village, Ashanti.

To this day, Adanwomase carries on the centuries-old Kente-weaving tradition. Under the guidance of the Kente Chief, Adanwomase weavers continue to weave cloths for the Ashanti Emperor-King, royals, and anyone in the world who appreciates the history and cultural significance woven into Ashanti Kente.[1] The town takes its name from the Adanwo tree. The name Adanwomase means under the Adanwo tree in Ashanti Twi language.

Adanwomase is also well known for the traditional Kente cloth weaving. Although there are a variety of oral histories concerning the origins of Kente Cloth, historians and scholars agree that Kente Cloth production is an extension of centuries of strip-weaving in West Africa. Strip-weaving has existed in West Africa since the 11th century. Most scholars believe that the art form was developed in present-day Bonoman or Brong-Ahafo and spread throughout West Africa through trade and migration.

References

  1. 1 2 Donkor, Kwadwo Baffoe (22 April 2015). "Adanwomase: The town of kente". Graphic.com.gh. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "References » Schools/Colleges". www.modernghana.com. Retrieved 12 August 2011.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Adanwomase.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/24/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.