Kente weaving at Bonwire

By Lisa Bogler

Bonwire, a village 20 km from Kumasi, is the centre of Kente weaving, the royal and sacred cloth made by Akan people in Ghana. On every corner, shops display the colorful patterns.

Weaving Kente

From Kumasi, we pick a Trotro to Bonwire which is half an hour ride away. Apart from us, three traveling volunteers from Cape Coast, the car is full with men and women dressed in black and red clothes. They must be attending a funeral somewhere. As we alight, we directly fall in the hands of a small group of men who introduce themselves as part of the royal family. They offer us to stay with them and the queen mother and as we assume this offer to be genuine, we accept. There is a hotel in Bonwire, but apparently it is a little bit out of town and a homestay with the royal family seems far more interesting anyway. 

Colorful Kente cloth

After we have seen the house and our room and met the queen mother, a friendly old lady, our new friends show us around. The small town is spread along wide roads and is rather quiet. This weekend it is unusually busy with people dressed in black and red. It really is a funeral they are attending and it is a big occasion. We learn that every first Saturday of the month, a funeral is held for everyone who passed away during the last month. Therefore, many different families gather to celebrate together. We are led to the funeral grounds, where music is played. People are dressed beautifully and we feel a little bit out of place in our travel clothes, so we soon leave the place again.

What Bonwire is famous for, however, is the Kente cloth. According to the legend, kente was invented here around 1690 by two hunters, who observed a spider weaving its net. At first the cloth was made only with a black and white design and not until 1710, another man from Bonwire, Otaa Kraban, produced a dye and the first colors. Chief Asantehene Nana Osei Tutu I advised the weavers to keep the weaving skill secret as the Asantes were then under the Denkyira King. In 1701, after the Asantes’ victory in the Denkyira War, production increased. 

Although formerly the cloth was only meant to be sold to kings and worn on times of importance, it is available to everybody now. The Bonwire streets are lined with shops, displaying the colorful cloth. The owners try to convince passing foreigners to buy from them and every one of them promises a good price. At the Kente weaving centre, we are shown how to weave and can even try for ourselves to work on the loom. After this, it is even more difficult not to buy from the men, who have their work lied out on the walls of the wooden building. Apart from the scarf-like cloth, they also have shoes, ties and bags with the kente design.

The cloth is identified by its multicolored patterns of bright colors, geometric shaped and bold designs. Each pattern has its name, such as “Good mother” or “Never give up”, even though there often is little correlation between the appearance and the name. They are derived from proverbs, historical events, plants or important chiefs and queen mothers. Only men are allowed to weave, as legend says that if the loom touches a woman’s stomach, she will never be able to bear children. 

Each of us with a little new souvenir in our bags, we leave the weaving centre behind to stroll further through the village. We see more men weaving in backyards and the shadows of their homes. Our royal guide introduces us to various relatives and friends and then shows us a place to have a drink, where he tells us the legend about the kente cloth. For food we have to go to the next bigger town, Ejisu. On our way there, we pass the Bonwire hotel and the tourist center. This is the place which was mentioned in my guide book as to where you can try to weave yourself. We probably experienced the less touristic version.