Minneapolis Institute of Art

Man's cloth

Ewe artist

Medium

Cotton, strip woven, weft face and supplementary weft patterning

Culture

Ewe

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Ewe weavers produce exquisite garments of fine quality cloth that are often worn at ceremonial gatherings such as puberty rites, marriages, ordinations, funerals and festivals. A distinguishing feature of Ewe cloth is the use of representational imagery interspersed between blocks of colorful stripes. Unconstrained by traditional patterns or color schemes, these weavers freely invent designs that are limited only by their imagination and technical skills. The simple blue and white plaid background of this wrapper relates it to very early Ewe weavings which used undyed cotton and indigo-dyed warp threads. The figurative weft patterns used on this cloth are primarily geometric motifs, but some may symbolize shields, drums or stools. Ghana, Africa

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