Stripweave

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Production of kente cloth, a type of stripweave, on a narrow double heddle loom. Kenteweaving.jpg
Production of kente cloth, a type of stripweave, on a narrow double heddle loom.
An Ewe stripweave from Ghana. Ewe kente stripes, Ghana.jpg
An Ewe stripweave from Ghana.

Stripweave is a textile technique in which large numbers of thin strips of cloth are sewn together to produce a finished fabric. Most stripweave is produced in West Africa from handwoven fabric, of which the example best known internationally is the kente cloth of Ghana. [1]

Textile Material produced by twining, weaving, felting, knotting, or otherwise processing natural or synthetic fibers

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibers. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, hemp, or other materials to produce long strands. Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, felting, or braiding.

Kente cloth type of silk and cotton stripwoven fabric, native to the Akan ethnic group of South Ghana, often made in alternating blocks of warp-faced and weft-faced weaving

Kente, known as nwentom in Akan, is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips made and native to the Akan ethnic group of Ghana. Kente is made in Akan lands such as the Ashanti Kingdom, including the towns of Bonwire, Adanwomase, Sakora Wonoo, and Ntonso in the Kwabre areas of the Ashanti Region. This fabric is worn by almost every Ghanaian tribe. Kente comes from the word kenten, which means basket in the Asante dialect of Akan. Akans refer to kente as nwentoma, meaning woven cloth. It is an Akan royal and sacred cloth worn only in times of extreme importance and was the cloth of kings. Over time, the use of kente became more widespread. However, its importance has remained and it is held in high esteem by Akans.

Ghana republic in West Africa

Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km2 (92,099 sq mi), Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east and the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in the south. Ghana means "Warrior King" in the Soninke language.

The earliest evidence of this traditional technique dates to the eleventh century among the Tellem people of Mali. [2]

Tellem ethnic group

The Tellem were the people who inhabited the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries CE. The Dogon people migrated to the escarpment region around the 14th century.

Mali republic in West Africa

Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa, a region geologically identified with the West African Craton. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi). The population of Mali is 18 million. Its capital is Bamako. The sovereign state of Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara Desert, while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. The country's economy centers on agriculture and mining. Some of Mali's prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt.

Materials

Cotton, silk, and rayon are the usual fibers for stripweave garment production. [1] Traditionally these were hand spun, although machine spun synthetics are coming into increasing use. [2] Wool is also in use for stripweave blankets by the Fulani people in Mali. [1] [2]

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Batik type of Indonesian cloth

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References

  1. 1 2 3 John Gillow and Bryan Sentance (1999). World Textiles: A Visual Guide to Traditional Techniques. Thames & Hudson. p. 92.
  2. 1 2 3 John Gillow (2003). African Textiles. Chronicle Books. p. 29. ISBN   978-0-8118-4166-5 . Retrieved 2009-02-14.