Asante & Ewe Kente

This West African stripwoven cloth dates back centuries and is still manufactured today, representing a vibrant symbol of the area's history and traditions, says Celia Rufey

- Celia Rufey

Kente stripweaving is a centuriesold tradition practised by the Asante and Ewe (Ev-ay) people of West Africa. The word comes from kenten, meaning basket possibly recalling a time of weaving with plant fibre.

Stripweaves are hand-woven on a narrow loom in lengths of 60 metres or more, but each strip is only 10cm wide. The strips are cut to required lengths and hand-sewn together, selvedge to selvedge, into traditional garments for men and women. Historically, these were garments worn by royalty and others of high social status on royal and sacred occasions in the Asante tradition, and less formally by the Ewe. For men, the one-piece garment is draped over the shoulder in a style reminiscent of a toga; for women, two or three pieces are wrapped tightly around the body.

Kente stripweaving is thought to have origins in Mali as early as the 11th century. Weavers took the narrow loom tradition with them when they journeyed towards the coast in the footsteps of European traders. The Asante and Ewe people are recorded as weaving stripcloths in what is now Ghana by the 15th century, even though we don't know what that cloth looked like. The earliest complete kente from these areas date from the mid-19th century.