Africa Patterns

Africa Patterns

By CANDIS OBERDORF

​​A Whole Continent of Textiles

​Africa has a rich history of textile production. Fabrics play an important role in the lives and ceremonies of many traditional and indigenous communities. At the same time, Africa is also a large continent with many cultures and more than fifty countries, so the variety of textiles is endless and fascinating.

​Kente cloth is made by the Asante and Ewe peoples of Ghana. It's an example of design made by weaving. Kente cloth begins with colorful threads (they can be of any fiber) that are woven on special horizontal foot-powered looms.

​Kente Cloth

The result is thin four-inch bands of brilliantly colored fabric that are then sewn together to make a larger textile. Kente cloth has bold geometric designs like horizontal and vertical lines, zigzags and diamonds.

​Some text here about the topic of discussion.

Kente Cloth

Black:    power, evil, death, mystery

​​

Grey:    security, authority, maturity, stability

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Purple:    royalty, luxury, wisdom, passion

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​Green:    life, growth, freshness, healing

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Yellow:    joy, energy, warmth

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Red:    danger, daring, urgency, energetic

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Blue:    peace, calmness, confidence, affection

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power stability luxury healing

joy energetic calmness

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Yellow

Grey​

Red

Blue

Green

Purple

Black

Draw

Match the color with its symbolic trait.

power

​​

stability

​

luxury

​

healing

​

joy

​

energetic

​

calmness

​

Yellow

Grey​

Red

Blue

Green

Purple

Black

The Asante have been perfecting the method of making adinkra cloth for hundreds of years. Adinkra cloth is fabric that is stamp-printed by hand, with stamps made from pieces of the calabash gourd

​Adinkra cloth

Oberdorf - Kente - Kente

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Draw

Circle the symbol with which you most identify

Bogolanfini Cloth

Bogolan literally means made from mud, and it's a hint to a substance used in its production. In this textile, special dyes are applied on the whole fabric. ​

mud cloth

Then, using a brush or other tool, river mud is applied to it in a pattern. The mud reacts with the dye and oxidizes. When the mud is rinsed off, a pattern begins to emerge. Mud may be applied more than once for a darker background color. Then the areas that weren't painted with mud are bleached with a solution of caustic soda. After more rinsing, and then drying it in the sun, the result is a striking white pattern on a brown or black background

Open Ended

In what way does Bogolanfini cloth differ from the Kente and Adinkra clothes?

Poll

Which type of pattern is more appealing to you?

Open Ended

What complimentary colors are being used?

Open Ended

What complimentary colors are being used?

Draw

Use the pen to color two blobs that are complements.

Draw

Use the MARKER to combine two colors to make purple (violet).

Fill in the Blank

How do you make brown using the color circled?