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"Kufuor Apagya Ghana" -
the new Kente
News
analysis, Feb 2, 2008 -
GNA reports that Nana Asante Frimpong, Ashanti Regional
Chairman of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) on
Thursday outdoored a new Kente design in honor of President
John Agyekum Kufuor for his excellent stewardship of the
affairs of the country.
The "Kente," which has become the symbol of black prestige
globally has a new design in its line-up now. It is named "Kufuor
Apagya Ghana," an Akan phrase that literally means "Kufuor
has uplifted the nation Ghana."
In the Kente idiom, each design ever created has a name and
it is usually a significant phrase or an honorific title
reserved for people who deserve to be honored; like "Fathia
Fata Nkrumah," created for the wife of Ghana's first
president.
Deservingly so, President Kufuor has one named after him.
The Kente, traditionally a ceremonial apparel for Ghanaians,
reserved for extremely important occasions, is a
multi-color, intricately woven and resplendent attire, that
is usually worn toga style by men and in formal evening wear
fashion by women.
The center for the Kente weaving craft is at Bonwire, a town
in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Here, the industry dates
back to antiquity. As garment, Ghanaians have nothing so
royal with which to compare, which is why it is known as the
garment of kings.
These days, the Kente has acquired international fame too,
with African-Americans adopting it as a symbol of black
pride. There is hardly a graduation ceremony, or the
furnishing in a black church or cassock of its pastor, in America, that is
not adorned with a marking of a Kente strip.
President Kufuor now has his design in the line-up. “Kufuor
Apagya Ghana”, is a distinctly designed cloth of four color
thread composition, developed by the Adanwomase Kente
Weavers Association of the Kwabre District. They hope to
reinforce and preserve the good programs of President Kufuor
that they claim have helped "to lift up the image”: of
Ghana internationally and “improved the living standards of
the people."
The design will exist like an hieroglyphic memory, worn on
the backs of people long after Kufuor has left the scene.
Nana Asante Frimpong also used the naming occasion to draw
attention to a schism within the weavers of the Kente
industry in Ghana.
There are two tribal schools that have Kente weaving as a
craft; the Ashanti whose products are noted for their
vibrant thread colors, and the Ewe who prefer those of
slightly subdued colors.
Artistic differences aside, in Ghana as elsewhere in Africa,
most things are marked by tribal sentiments. And like many
things in Africa, tribal sentiments never leave good things
undisturbed. They mar them. The Kente cloth has this
trouble hanging over its head.
As reported by GNA, Nana Asante Frimpong “suggested to the
Ghanaian Ministry of Culture to bring both Asanti and Ewe
Kente weavers together to form a national association in
order for them to gain recognition. He held that the cloth
represents Ghanaian history as well as social values and
political thoughts and that it was the only fabric that
gives Ghanaians a distinctive identification abroad.”
In Nana Frimpong’s view and opinion as a Kete weaver, “Kente
has achieved a tremendous international recognition and has
evolved to become one of the most tangible manifestations of
our growing sense of Pan African unity..”
Therefore, a unifier of this magnitude needs to have a
unified base of weavers for the good of the industry as well
as the nation, he implied.
Nana Frimpong appealed to the government to also set aside a
day in the year to celebrate Kente, when entire weavers
across the country could compete with their latest designs
for prizes.
Once upon a time, there used to be a "Kente Dance" in Ghana,
when people attended gala dances adorned in rich Kente
garments. How much effort would it take to bring this back?
Imagine the crowning of a truly beautiful Ms. Ghana in the
midst of a magnificent Kente Dance. Why imagine, you
would ask; but considering the dilemma that our vanished
“Big Bands” have left us with and the diminishing reputation
of the High Life, what else could one say? The Uhurus, the
Stargazers, the Black Beats and the Ramblers are all gone.
Left in their places are “rappers.” How ridiculous would it
be to be seen wrapped in a Kente toga while stepping to a
rap beat?
But back to Nana Frimpong and his call to the Ministry of
Culture to honor the Kente industry: He asked for the
government to establish a national museum for the craft; a
pantheon where the weavers can be honored.
Sometime back, during the creation of an edition of the first
cedi notes, a denomination was reserved for the Kente, with
a depiction of the then Chief of Bonwire, Nana Yaw Antobre,
himself a renown weaver at work, on the back of the note,
and symbolizing the prestigious place Kente held in our
culture then. Hopefully, the recognition has not been
reversed.
And hopefully still, the Ashanti and Ewe weavers can see
beyond the petty tribal schism and remember that they hold
in their craft a product that has only brought honor to us
as a country – an honor that the weavers of Adanwomase Kente
Weavers Association of Kwabre District have been good enough
to recognize in President Kufuor.
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Ghanadot
News source GNA
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