IKKente: Fusion of Ikat Technique into Asante Traditional Kente Weaving

Abstract

The Asante Kente is unquestionably the most popular and best-known of all African textiles. It has attracted the attention of many for centuries due to its uniqueness. The aesthetic appeal of Kente has been significantly improved over the years as a result of variations in design and production techniques. However, its design and production could be further improved and enhanced for the Asante Traditional Kente weaving industry to meet contemporary standards and market demands. Hence, this study sought to innovatively incorporate the Ikat technique – a patchy yarn dyeing decorative technique into the Asante traditional Kente weaving. The researchers utilized the studio-based research design under the qualitative research approach. The procedural steps in the Double Helix of Praxis-Exergesis Model which consisted of exploration, production, and evaluation, were adopted for the study. Personal interview was the principal data collection instrument used in collecting data from 12 purposefully sampled traditional Asante Kente weavers from six different communities in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The findings of the study revealed the possibility of fusing the two cloth production techniques to produce one common cloth that was named IKKente. The study recommends that this yarn decoration method should be encouraged among dyers and weavers to boost the local weaving industry in Ghana.