Traditional African Textile Design: Adinkra


Adinkra stamping. From Go Travel Ghana
 African symbols known as Adinkra are found throughout Ghana, a beautiful West African country on the Atlantic Ocean. On cloth and walls, in pottery and logos, these Asante (Ashanti) tribe symbols can be found everywhere.

Stamp carver Joseph Nsiah of Ntonso, Ghana, holding an adinkra
stamp.From africa.si.edu
Originally created by the Akan people of Ghana (a large ethnic group) and the Gyaman (the people of a medieval African state founded by a branch of the Akan) of Cote d’Ivoire Adinkra symbols represent concepts or aphorisms. 
Modern commercial Adinkra cloth. From Alison Jones

Modern fabric Adinkra are often made by woodcut sign writing as well as screen printing. The fabric can be used to communicate evocative messages that represent parts of the makers life or those around them. 
Traditional Adinkra funeral cloth. From the Buchele Adventure
 

 Traditional Adinkra cloth is a hand-printed fabric made in Ghana. Adinkra cloths were traditionally made for royalty to wear at religious ceremonies.


Adinkra stamps. From Tien Chu
 In the Ashanti Craft Village of Ntonso, just a short drive north of Kumasi, Adinkra cloth is still hand made. The traditional method of creating Adinkra cloth is by mashing the bark of Bedia trees (transported from North Ghana), boiling and reducing several times until the bark becomes a pitch-like black dye. This dye is called Adinkera aduru, and it is what gives the cloth its name.

Adinkra cloth is stamped and patterned with traditional Ashanti symbols. Each symbol has its own meaning. Using the dye, lines are drawn on the cloth to divide it into squares. 
 
Adinkra with sewn strips of woven Kente cloth. From Go Travel Ghana.

Next, Adinkra symbols are carved into calabash gourds, These stamps are then dipped into the dye and rocked onto fabric to create unique and beautiful patterns.


Strips of kente cloth may be sewn between strips of Adinkra cloth to create a colorful and dramatic piece.





Links:
Adinkra

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