Kente Cloth

Artist Unknown

Kente Cloth, a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips native to Ghana, is my favorite African textile. The largest Kente on display was a gift from a graduate student from Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa, whom my wife, Beth, mentored about twenty years ago. This Kente is a very precious gift, as it once belonged to the student’s grandfather.

The Kente can be worn as a wrap, although it is quite difficult to do so for long periods of time, due to the weight of the material. In all my years I have not encountered a better example of Kente.

The second Kente was also a gift, one given to me by Kate Schachter, a Peace Corp. volunteer in Ghana, West Africa. Most Kente Cloths originate in Ghana and thus are often the most delicate and well-made.