Kente is a Ghanaian textile traditionally closely linked with royalty among the Ashanti and Ewe peoples.  Both the Ashanti and Ewe peoples claim to have developed kente weaving.  While they do have many similarities, they have each developed distinctive designs and styles of weaving.  Ashanti kente is characterised by bright geometric shapes woven in magenta, yellow, bright green, bright blue and red, while Ewe kente is often in more muted tones of yellow, red, green, black, white and blue.  Ewe kente also involves plying colours together to create a ‘tweed’ effect.  Symbols and forms that represent humans, animals and ordinary household objects, such as combs, chairs and tables, are often used.

Over time kente designs have been developed for special social and religious occasions.  A master weaver will know by looking at a cloth its story or significance.  Traditionally made from silk, it is now made from cotton or rayon.

According to oral tradition, kente can be traced back to the ‘spider web’ myth.  This is the story of a young man who was hunting when he stopped to watch a spider spin a web.  The hunter was humbled by the skill of spider and so impressed by the intricacy of its art that he became determined to emulate it.  By imitating the spider, weaving sisal and raffia, he produced the first textile made by man.

Kente cloth is woven on a narrow horizontal loom.  Long narrow strips are woven (about 9.5cm wide) and then several strips are sewn together to form a large cloth.  Traditionally kente cloth was made for royalty and worn like a toga.  The centre of Ewe weaving is in the Volta Region (Eastern Ghana) and the centre for Ashanti weaving is at Bonwire, near Kumasi (central Ghana).

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Back to Traditional Techniques?

preparing the warp

the full length of the long warp is weighted by a large rock


Kente weaver


Kente weaver

the heddles of the loom are controlled by the weaver’s feet

sewing the narrow strips together to create a large cloth

Kente cloth