![]() ![]() Asante Kente: The Asante were the dominant people of West Africa's Gold Coast, present-day Ghana.West Africa Yoruba Woman in Aso oke Ewe Kente Portable tripod looms used by Mande weavers are today unique to Sierra Leone and Liberia. Vertical looms: Berbers in North Africa and the Yoruba in Nigeria used broad, upright vertical looms to weave cotton cloth while single heddle vertical looms are used in Cameroon and the Congo.While the Amhara in Ethiopia use double headle pit-treadle looms, where the weaver sits on the edge of a small pit dug in the ground. Double heddle frames are used by Asante silk weavers, Ewe and Cameroonian cotton weavers, and the Djerma weavers in Niger and Burkina Faso. In Nigeria use single heddle looms with extra string heddles but Kuba raphia weavers set the heddles at 45 degrees. However, there are many variations, for example, the Yoruba. Horizontal looms: include single heddle looms, double heddle frame looms with foot treadles, and horizontal pit-treadle looms.Textiles were woven on horizontal or vertical looms with variations depending on the region. Over time most of these fibers were replaced with cotton. Other fiber materials included undyed wild silk used in Nigeria for embroidery and weaving, as well as barkcloth from fig trees used to make clothes for ceremonial occasions in Uganda, Cameroon, and the Congo. Cotton fibers from the kapok tree has been extensively used by the Dagomba to produce long strips of fibre to make the Ghanaian smock. Raphia fiber from dried stripped leaves of raphia palm was commonly used in West Africa and Central Africa since it is widely available in countries with grasslands like Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria. ![]() ![]() From Mali, the technique spread across West Africa to Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria. Stripwoven cloths are made up of narrow strips that are cut into desired lengths and sewn together. Findings from caves at Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali propose its use from as far back as the 11th century. ![]() Stripweaving, a centuries-old textile manufacturing technique of creating cloth by weaving strips together, is characteristic of weaving in West Africa, who credit Mande weavers and in particular the Tellem people as the first to master the art of weaving complex weft patterns into strips. Below is an overview of some of the common techniques and textile materials used in various African regions and countries. Historically textiles were used as a form of currency since the fourteenth century in West Africa and Central Africa. Some fragments have also survived from the thirteenth century Benin City in Nigeria. They are made of wool or fine "short" animal hair including dried skin for integrity. Some of the oldest surviving African textiles were discovered at the archaeological site of Kissi in northern Burkina Faso. These textiles hold cultural significance and also have significance as historical documents of African design. Across Africa, there are many distinctive styles, techniques, dyeing methods, and decorative and functional purposes. Textiles originating in and around continental Africa or through the African Diaspora Kuba Raffia cloth, made by the Kuba of present-day Democratic Republic of Congo Contemporary West African textile designsĪfrican textiles are textiles from various locations across the African continent. ![]()
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