Adinkra Workshop

Textile design is probably the mostart form in Ghana. Bold, bright designs of an endless variety are used to make clothing. There are seamstresses on every block. Kente cloth and Adinkra stamped fabrics originated in Ghana. Today I was able to attend a fantastic adinkra workshop with Ralitza Debrah, a professor from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. There are dozens of adinkra symbols representing a variety of human qualities from resilience and strength to collaboration and guardianship. For a list of symbols and their meanings, click on this link:

http://www.adinkra.org/htmls/adinkra_index.htm

When I looked at the stamps, I thought they were made from a lightweight wood like balsa, but they are carved from calabash gourds, w/skewers for handles.

Some traditional adinkra symbols made into carved and inked stamps

The ink is made from the bark of a badie tree. The bark is soaked for over a week, then pounded into thin hairs, then soaked again for a few days. It is then put through a sieve along with its soaking water and the strained liquid is boiled to create the ink. When cool, it looks viscous like motor oil, but when heated it becomes thin and fluid.

Badie tree bark

Because the stamps are made from gourds, they have a slight curve, so you rock the stamp back and forth to make a good print.

Rally’s screen prints, a contemporary take on the traditional symbols.