The Scintillating Story Of The Kente Cloth- Ghana’s Pride

We mostly see the beautiful colors of kente clothes during traditional ceremonies, special occasions and so on in the nation but don’t know the origin of this fabric. Let’s get some education on this kente cloth.

Kente is a Ghanaian heritage textile worn on special occasions or ceremonies such as weddings, engagements, naming ceremonies and other national events. Kente has become an important cloth recently, which has dominated not only in Ghana but also West Africa and other parts of the globe.

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Kente is an English derived pronunciation from ‘Kenten’ which means basket in the Akan language in Ghana. The cloth is weaved from fiber thread with the hand normally with a measurement of about 4 inches wide. They can be used as a stole, scarf or sewn together to make a bigger cloth. It comes from varieties of colors and each design having a specific name for it.

How Kente Came About?

According to oral tradition, two friends from Bonwire in the Ashanti region of Ghana went to farm. On their way, they saw a big spider weaving its web. They took time to observe the spider as it does the weaving.

They return home and replicated the techniques with raffia from palm tree and upon successful improvement they reported it to their chief who also reported to the paramount chief of the Ashanti Kingdom. The Paramount chief encouraged its development as a prestigious cloth to be worn on special occasions.

In recent times Kente has become a symbol of Pan- Africanism and ethnic pride embraced in the diaspora.

Check out some stunning photos from the Kente clothes.