CLOTH AS METAPHOR
An Exhibition

OVERVIEW

Clothing in Ghana as elsewhere, has long served more than one purpose. In addition to satisfying human needs for covering and adornment, textiles and clothing provide media for artistic expression for weavers, dyers, tailors, and clothing designers.

Cloth As Metaphor is an exhibition about indigenous symbols and the arts of the Akan of Ghana in West Africa . The Akan of Ghana and the Ivory Coast ( West Africa ) encode a number of symbols in their hand-woven and hand-printed cloths such as the adinkra and kente cloths. The symbols encoded in these cloths are linked to proverbs, stories, songs, maxims, beliefs and everyday expressions. These symbols in essence constitute a writing system with which the Akan communicate.

As a writing system the adinkra cloth symbols, for example, are grouped as pictograms, ideograms, and phonograms. This exhibition contains over 700 adinkra cloth symbols with their names and meanings and some of the stories and proverbs associated with the symbols. It develops themes from the texts encoded in the proverbs, stories, and maxims associated with these symbols in order to highlight the links between the verbal and visual in Akan art and language. The themes covered are: cosmology, social and political organization, social and ethical values, economics, and knowledge of the Akan of Ghana.

CLOTH AS METAPHOR: THE PUBLICATION

The writing system presented in the exhibiton are explored further in the companion book, Cloth As Metaphor: (Re)reading the adinkra cloth symbols of the Akan of Ghana by G. F. Kojo Arthur (2001).

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EXHIBITION

This exhibition is designed to educate audiences about Akan’s long history of writing language and knowledge systems. It also celebrates the ingenuity and creativity of Akan artists who incorporate graphic forms of communication into a wide range of art works using not only textiles  but also architecture, wood, metal and pottery as their media. The exhibition also emphasizes the relationships between Akan visual arts and Akan verbal genres. It is also to show some aspects of the rich cultural heritage of the Akan of Ghana. 

THE EXHIBITS

5 man’s size adinkra cloths (3 screen-printed, 2 block-printed)
6 pieces adinkra cloths (each about 24” X 36” block-printed)
6 pieces woman’s size adinkra cloths (1 screen-printed; 1 block-printed; 4 factory-printed)
8 hand-carved adinkra (gourd) stamps
20 mounted pictures (each 8X10) – 2 black and white; 18 colored)
21 laminated posters (each 24” X 36” - see sample)

LECTURE/HANDS-ON PRESENTATION

1-2 hour lecture on any of the following topics: Akan Cosmology, Akan Social and Political Organization, Akan Knowledge Systems, and Akan Social and Ethical Values.
1-2 hour hands-on design of a "cloth."

Lectures and hands-on presentations are tailored to suit audiences such as school children (K-12), college students, churches, and the general public.

Depending on the audience we do the following:

We use various adinkra stamps to print into t-shirts or a piece of fabric (1-2 hours)

Cut-out adinkra symbols are made into placemats and laminated (1-2 hours).

Cut-out adinkra symbols are used to design “a cloth” using newsprint (1-2 hours).

A story derived from an adinkra symbol is told and discussed (1- 2 hours).

Cross-cultural discussion of textiles using kente, adinkra and other textiles (1-2 hours).

Click here to see some of the places our exhibition/presentations have been.

Please contact Dr. G. F. Kojo Arthur for more information.
E-mail: Click here to submit online form
Tel.: 304-696-2876
or
Contact CEFIKS Publications at 301-592-7615.

05/11/2007