Carvings, Adinkra, Kente...oh my! (Part 1)

Wow, today was a pretty incredible day (...and no, not just because I finally caught up in blogging!) Today we had a private tour of the Ashanti craft villages which surround Kumasi. What he told us yesterday would be about 3 hours ended up being closer to 6...and he didn't even mention it. Another example of how Ghanaians are so relaxed about time.

Our driver/tour guide started us at the Manhyia Palace Museum, which was a surprisingly informative tour, providing a lot of history of the Ashanti people. It was a good starting point before heading to the villages. Plus, our guide's name there was Opoku Obama--which was not his given name, but he changed it to that when Obama was elected President. He kept referring to himself as our President, asking us if we were excited to be meeting the President, etc. Pretty hilarious.

Our first village stop was Ahwiaa, a woodcarving village. We were told the carvers weren't carving today because there had been a death in the village, but it was still nice to be able to see/purchase beautifully carved wooden pieces from the source and meet the craftsmen themselves.

Our second village was Ntonso, the center of Adinkra cloth design and manufacture. Here, we were able to visit the village and see the entire process, beginning with making the ink from the bark of the badia tree. The bark has to be purchased, as the badia tree is found in the north of Ghana (see photo of raw bark). Then, it is soaked in water for 24 hours to soften it before it's mashed to a stringy/pulp-like consistency (done in a similar way to how the glass was pounded into powder, see photo of Derek mashing below). In the close-up photo, the closer wood needs to be mashed, and the wood in the background is already mashed. Seems simple, but again, it's really hard work. Then, the mashed bark is put in cauldrons with water to boil (see photo that looks like a bunch of metal...that's the first boiling area). However, the first ink that is produced is very light and transparent. So, from there, they boil that ink again for a long time to reduce it to a tar-like consistency. All this, just to get the ink!!

For the Adinkra symbols themselves, stamps are carved from calabash and bamboo is used to make a handle on the back (see photos). Each Adinkra symbol has its own meaning. We had the chance to make our own Adinkra cloth (see photos below)-- the symbols we chose mean "together in life and death" and "bravery."

I'm excited that I was able to purchase a couple authentic Adinkra stamps for my classroom--I can't wait to share them with my students!

Ok, second post for Kente so pictures don't get all mixed up...