Kente, is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips and is native to Ghana, but also considered to be a Pan-African tradition. Kente comes from the word kenten, which means basket in Akan dialect Asante. Akans refer to kente as nwentoma, meaning woven cloth.
Kente is made up of different colours and designs which have definitely made the fabric the best known of all Ghanaian, and perhaps even all West African textiles. Every design has a story with a proverbial meaning, giving each cloth its own distinction.
Kente cloth is usually worn for ceremonies, festivals, and other sacred occasions. It is also given as a gift for weddings, child naming ceremonies, graduations, and other special events.
The history of Kente weaving extends back more than 400 years. History has it that the very first Kente weavers used raffia, or palm leaf fibers, and wove them into a cloth that looked like a basket.
One story about Kente says that two friends learned to weave by observing a spider weave its web. They wove in imitation of the spider, using raffia fibers to create a strip of fabric. Their leaders were so impressed with this new cloth that it became the royal cloth and was saved for special occasions. There are more than 300 different patterns of Kente cloth. Each pattern has a name and its own meaning. The meanings come from past events, religious beliefs, political ideas, and social customs.
Like the patterns, the various colours that usually appear on the kente cloth represent different values and concepts of life. The Kente cloth, is therefore not worn for its beauty alone but also for its representational qualities. They are worn to send out a message.
Black – maturation, intensified spiritual energy
Blue – peacefulness, harmony and love
Green – vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth, spiritual renewal
Gold – royalty, wealth, high status, glory, spiritual purity
Grey – healing and cleansing rituals; associated with ash
Maroon – the color of mother earth; associated with healing
Pink – associated with the female essence of life; a mild, gentle aspect of red
Purple – associated with feminine aspects of life; usually worn by women
Red – political and spiritual moods; bloodshed; sacrificial rites and death.
Silver – serenity, purity, joy; associated with the moon
White – purification, sanctification rites and festive occasions
Yellow – preciousness, royalty, wealth, fertility
Clothing_Pallette 