Cloth Item Number: 3448/1 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Kente cloth composed of five hand woven cloth strips. The green strips have been stitched together along the long edge, and then embroidered with designs. At each end there are five rectangles across by five rectangles down each strip. The centre of the cloth has groups of three rectangles with embroidered designs spread out. Uneven fringed ends.
Kente cloth is known for its colourful hand-woven patterns and is worn to celebrate special events. Over three hundred types of patterns have been identified and each contains layers of meaning derived from proverbs, historical events, authority figures and plants. In Ghana, it was customarily worn only by kings as a ceremonial cloth, but it is now widespread. Kente cloth is viewed by the African diaspora as an icon of African cultural heritage wherever it is worn.
Acquired in a Vancouver thrift shop in 2011.