Kente cloth
[5][failed verification] Archaeological evidence for the oldest form of handloom weaving in Southern Ghana has been discovered at Begho and Bono Manso.
[6] Another oral source states that it was developed indigenously by individuals from Bonwire during the reign of Osei Kofi Tutu I, who were inspired by the web designs of a spider.
[8] In 1817, Thomas Edward Bowdich noted that weaving in Ashanti had progressed to an extent that cloths were made "in all the varieties of colour, as well as pattern, [and] they were of an incredible size and weight.
[11] According to oral tradition, Ewe weaving goes back to the 16th century when weavers were among the migrants who resettled in Ghana from Benin Republic and Western Nigeria.
The cloth symbolizes high value.Ahwepan refers to a simple design of warp stripes, created using plain weave and a single pair of heddles.
[3] Example messages include adweneasa, which translates as 'I've exhausted my skills', is a highly decorated type of kente with weft-based patterns woven into every available block of plain weave.
[16][17] [18][better source needed] In June 2020, Democratic Party leaders kneeled in the United States Capitol Visitor Center for 8 minutes and 42 seconds in protest, causing controversy by wearing stoles made of kente cloth to show support against systemic racism.
[19] While it was said to be an act of unity with African-Americans, many, including Jade Bentil, a Ghanaian-Nigerian researcher, voiced objection tweeting "My ancestors did not invent Kente cloth for them to be worn by publicity (obsessed) politicians as 'activism' in 2020".
On the other hand Congressional Black Caucus chair Karen Bass said, at a news conference for the introduction of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, that the non-black lawmakers were showing solidarity, and April Reign, who is credited with initiating the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag,[20] while not a fan of the symbolism, suggested that the legislation's fate is more relevant than the event in the Capitol's Emancipation Hall.
There is also a controversy with Louis Vuitton's usage of a printed and monogrammed version of kente in their autumn-winter 2021 collection by American creative director Virgil Abloh, whose grandmother was Ghanaian.
This coincided with the first appearance of this design of kente cloth printed on a dress worn by American poet Amanda Gorman for the cover of Vogue's May 2021 issue.
