Not far from Kumasi is the village of Bonwire. Bonwire is known for the weavers who live there. Most people are familiar with the colourful Kente cloth from Ghana and this is where it is made. When I think of Kente cloth I usually think of the traditional type which is a beautiful combination of black, yellow, green and red...but Kente comes in many colours and patterns.
Our first stop was at a Kente shop and we were surprised by how expensive the cloth is but when you put into perspective the number of hours it takes to weave it you can see why the cost is so high. There was one very intricate pattern that was designed for Bill Clinton when he visited Ghana, to make a man's cloth with that pattern it takes 4 men 2 years...so 900 cedis is actually quite a steal! Most of the 3 piece sets that a woman would use for an outfit cost 100 cedis and the least expensive man's cloth that we saw was 350 cedis.
We bought a few stoles from this shop and our Taxi driver Fifi was quite helpful in bargaining for a good price.
We walked through along some paths between homes to find a spot where some Kente weavers do their work.
The Kente weavers weren't at there because it was Sunday morning and they were at church.
You can see by the light bulb hanging from the roof that they also weave in the night.
This young guy was rolling out thread between two sticks that were about 25 metres apart...the whole time we were in the village he was walking around those sticks and trying not to tangle the string. They say this is a brutal job and I'm sure you have sore muscles after such repetitive work.
We walked a little farther into the village and found two guys that were weaving on their porch. I was surprised to find out that most of the Kente weavers are men (for some reason I had always imagined women doing the weaving).
You can see by the light bulb hanging from the roof that they also weave in the night.
This young guy was rolling out thread between two sticks that were about 25 metres apart...the whole time we were in the village he was walking around those sticks and trying not to tangle the string. They say this is a brutal job and I'm sure you have sore muscles after such repetitive work.
We walked a little farther into the village and found two guys that were weaving on their porch. I was surprised to find out that most of the Kente weavers are men (for some reason I had always imagined women doing the weaving).
The toes are a very important part of the weaving.
You can see that the thread is stretched all the way across the porch.
They only weave one thread at a time...that's why it takes so long but also why it looks so amazing when it's finished.
You can see that the thread is stretched all the way across the porch.
They only weave one thread at a time...that's why it takes so long but also why it looks so amazing when it's finished.
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