Ghanian kente is the fabric that 'will not tear'

Fante boys carrying chiefly regalia and awaiting the enstoolment procession. The piece is part of the “Wrapped in Pride” exhibition.

Fans of the Gee's Bend quilting phenomenon are among those who will enjoy making connections between the African American experience and the West African fabrics on display at the Pink Palace Museum.

Young girls bear ritual containers at an enstoolment or enthroning procession for a Fante chief in Ghana in 1975.

Fante boys carry chiefly regalia and await the procession. The piece is part of the "Wrapped in Pride" exhibition.

Ewe garment

Titled "Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity," the show, which runs through Aug. 16, offers a rich array of the bold and brightly-patterned strip fabrics most often referred to as kente. Staged in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Humanities, "Wrapped in Pride" began as an exhibit at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, said Steve Masler, manager of exhibits and graphic services at the Pink Palace.

"Then afterwards, the NEH gave a grant to allow it to travel," he says. "So they acquired all new objects and put together new traveling pieces and sent it on the road."

The exhibit also makes smart use of the underused mezzanine space next to the main exhibit room (where "Dinosaurs and Sea Creatures" is currently being installed for a June 13 opening). In addition, "Wrapped in Pride" is fittingly located over the "Underground Memphis" mini-exhibit of 19th century artifacts, many unearthed from slave quarters.

"It's part of our African American connections series," notes Pink Palace marketing and public relations manager Ronda Cloud of "Wrapped in Pride." "We're trying to increase awareness of the history of the Mid-South, and a major part of that history is African American. Kente cloth means a lot to African Americans ... and has come to have a lot of cultural significance."

Largely associated with the Asante (or Ashanti) and Ewe ethnic groups in what is now Ghana, Togo, and Benin, and predominately hand-woven to this day by men on portable looms, the colorful cloth of kente is typically made from cotton or silk and is worn in a variety of contexts from weddings and funerals to festivals and royal functions. Long the garment of leaders and kings, kente is frequently imbued with specific meaning. As argued by renowned African art scholar Robert Farris Thompson and others, the aesthetic choices in such objects can at times carry concepts too important to put into words.

"Traditionally, kente is bought and worn just as much for the name and the symbolism behind the name as it is for the exact style and colors," says Masler. For example, one design on display at the Pink Palace is called "Papa nko akyiri," which translates to "Kindness does not travel far," the message being that good deeds don't travel as far as bad ones. Masler points out that, compared to Asante, Ewe designs typically include more representational motifs such as lizards and birds.

While other ethnic groups in West and Central Africa have their own textile traditions, including the Mande, whom some experts credit as originators of the African strip-weave technique, the kente style of the Asante and Ewe has become pan-African and even global. This is a result of its popularization during the decades of African independence, especially in its use as a politicized fashion statement by famed Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah as well as iconic Western figures such as Muhammad Ali.

Asante myth tells us that two brothers developed the looming technique in the 17th century after witnessing the spider god Anansi weaving a web. No doubt relevant to this tale is the fact that cotton was introduced into Asante culture around the same time. Though the origin of the word "kente" has various theories, it is commonly tied to the Asante phrase, "ke-ente," which means "whatever happens to it, it will not tear." And the cultural and political implications behind such an explanation has helped make kente a symbol of identity and solidarity among Afrodiasporic peoples.

The exhibit concludes with a look at the international spread of kente -- from Christmastime "Kente Clauses" to a Barbie from the 1970s donned in a kente gown -- taking special note of its growing importance in all manner of celebratory events including the observance of Kwanzaa and its popular adoption into graduation stoles.

"There are still new patterns that are coming in," says Masler, who points out that Bill and Hilary Clinton got a design named after them when they visited Ghana in 1998. Perhaps the most global implication for kente -- and most ironic -- is that much of the commercially-sold variety is now manufactured for export in China.

Whatever happens to it, it will not tear.

"Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity"

On display at the Pink Palace museum, 3050 Central, through Aug. 16. For more information, call 320-6362 or visit memphismuseums.org.

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