African textiles

History

Textile weaving

• Horizontal looms: include single heddle looms, double heddle frame looms with foot treadles, and horizontal pit-treadle looms. However, there are many variations, for example, the Yoruba. In Nigeria use single heddle looms with extra string heddles but Kuba raffia weavers set the heddles at 45 degrees. Double heddle frames are used by Asante silk weavers, Ewe and Cameroonian cotton weavers, and the Djerma weavers in Niger and Burkina Faso. While the Amhara in Ethiopia use double headle pit-treadle looms, where the weaver sits on the edge of a small pit dug in the ground.
• Vertical looms: Berbers in North Africa and the Yoruba in Nigeria used broad, upright vertical looms to weave cotton cloth while single heddle vertical looms are used in Cameroon and the Congo. Portable tripod looms used by Mande weavers are today unique to Sierra Leone and Liberia.

  West Africa

• Asante Kente: The Asante were the dominant people of West Africa's Gold Coast, present-day Ghana. Controlling the only source of gold available, the Asante traded with other African states and later with Europeans after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century. With their wealth and a rich source of gold, they made all forms of jewelry, amulets, and talismans from the gold. In the 18th century, the Asante acquired knowledge of the strip weaving technique from Bondoukou through trade that is seen in the present-day Ivory Coast. The Asante became respected for strip-weaving Kente cloths in cotton and silk in the weaving village of Bonwire. The term Kente means basket and refers to the checkerboard pattern of the cloths. The cotton for early Kente was locally grown, but the silk was imported since silk moths are not indigenous to Ghana. In present day, Kente is found worn across the population; however, its use is still concentrated among high society members and the wealthy. This stems from its long history of association with Asante royalty, who had also used it to denote their spiritual power, documented through later findings in their shrines to deities.
• Kyekye of the Bondoukou people: Kyekye is a fabric originating from the Bondoukou people of Ivory Coast, and is often woven in a geometric pattern with blue indigo dye serving as the primary color scheme. The kyekye also predates the Akan Kente fabric, influencing its subsequent development.
• Ewe Kente: Kente cloth is also worn by the Ewe, located in Ghana and Togo and Benin Republic. The Ewe, a Gbe speaking group who originated from Nigeria, had a tradition of horizontal loom weaving, adopted the double heddle frame loom style of Kente cloth weaving from the Asante with some important differences. Ewes weave cotton cloth instead of silk or rayon and introduce floating figurative weft patterns representing proverbs. Also, since the Ewe were not centralized, Kente was not limited to use by royalty, though the cloth was still associated with prestige and special occasions. A greater variety in the patterns and functions exist in Ewe Kente, and the symbolism of the patterns often has more to do with daily life than with social standing or wealth.
• Dagbon: The people are specialised in weaving the Chinchini. This African textile is used to weave the Ghanaian Smock. Queens, princesses and women of Dagbon wear the Chinchini. The weaving of the chinchini is done by the 'Kpaluu', one of the traditional professional in the Dagbon society that has existed until today. The smock made from the Chinchini of Dagbon is the most worn traditional cloth of Ghana.During, the declaration of independence from colonial rule, Ghana's first prime minister and president together with other members of The Big Six were dressed in smocks as they declared the attainment of independence by the Ghanaian people. In November 2022, Ghana's Men National Football Team were dressed on beautiful patterns of smocks made from the chinchini as they arrived in Qatar. The smocks, although originated from Northern Ghana, is worn by all across West Africa.
• Yoruba Aso Oke: Aso oke meaning top cloth, is the most prestigious hand-woven cloth of the Yoruba. It requires a level of expertise and time to weave the cloth. Traditional indigo-colored Aso oke often required the hand-spun thread to be dyed up to fourteen times to achieve the deep blues needed. Special techniques were used to make the threads colorfast so that they would not damage the lighter colored threads or embroidery when washed. The raw silk used in Aso oke, called sanyan, requires thousands of moth cocoons to be collected and their silk carefully unraveled and spun into thread. These types of labor-intensive activities were prerequisites to weaving and hand embroidering. Technically, Aso oke is what is known as a double-heddle narrow loom weave. The cloth is made by weaving a four-inch band of cloth measuring forty feet or more. This long piece is then taken to a tailor who cuts it into pieces, sews it together, and sometimes hand-embroiders it. Traditionally, Aso oke was woven from cotton and imported or domestic silk. Aso oke outfits are worn during major ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, naming ceremonies, and important religious festivals.
• Faso Dan Fani: produced in Burkina Faso by the Marka people, the name is Dyula for "woven cloth of the motherland." Woven from cotton, kapok and tuntun wild silk, the thread is handspun, dyed, and woven on double-heddle looms into striped cloth: women spin and dye, while men weave and sew. The stripes of each cloth are woven to correspond to a proverb. Thus, wearing the cloth conveys a message. Thomas Sankara promoted dan fani as a symbol of local arts and national pride, and encouraged its wearing as an alternative to the Western suit. It also diverted cotton production from a raw material for export to being used for domestic consumption. Sankara said, "We should not be slave of what others produce wearing the Faso Dan Fani is an economic act, cultural, and political to challenge imperialism." With Sankara returning to popularity in the 2010s, Faso Dan Fani has also become more popular in Burkina Faso and in West Africa in general.

  East Africa

• Ethiopian Cotton: With the exception of Ethiopia, textile weaving is less common in East Africa. Cotton grows abundantly in Ethiopia and Sudan, with Sudan being one of the first cotton weaving locations in the world. Ethiopia has conditions that are good for growing cotton thus cotton was then locally grown and woven into cotton fabric on horizontal pit-looms mainly used by those with high social status. Embroidery is done by hand traditionally, and is originally the job of the men.
• Ugandan barkcloth: barkcloth in Uganda is traditionally made with the ficus natalensis plant and is harvested during the wet season. Afterwards, it is beaten laboriously until it develops a soft texture, in which then the fabric can be woven to satisfy the desired purpose.

  Central Africa

• Kuba raffia: The Kuba of Central Africa have one of the widest range of textile skills in Africa including weaving cloth from leaves of raffia palm as well as embroidery, applique, cut-pile and resist dyeing techniques. The Kuba kingdom's need for traditional textiles for ceremonies has sustained their traditional cloth and weaving techniques since the height of the kingdom between the 17th and 19th century until today. Unlike in other regions in Africa where over time locally grown and homespun materials were replaced by mill spun and synthetic fabrics, the Kuba raffia looms could not be adapted for weaving cotton or other fibers; thus helping to retain traditional skills. raffia is one of the most important indigenous fibres used in Central Africa including Cameroon, Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It grows in abundance and sustainably in the swampy lands. To make cloth raffia fabric, fibres from raffia palm trees are harvested, the upper skin is stripped and left to dry in the sun. The fibre is then woven into skirts and wraps. raffia weaving is also concentrated in the eastern part of Madagascar where contemporary haklkat raffia wraps are tie-dyed with multiple colors.
• Bark cloth: Bark cloth has ceremonial and ritual importance for the Baganda in Uganda as well as in Cameroon and the Congo. It is one of the first fabrics made in tropical areas of Sub-saharan Africa, specifically Central Africa. Bark from the tropical fig tree is stripped from the tree once a year and then sustainably regrows. The bark is moistened and then beaten rhythmically over a log until it expands by as much as four times into cloth. The cloth is then decorated with embroidery or dyed to create embroidered gowns, crocheted feathered hats, or the popular Bamileke stitched resist bark cloth.