Minneapolis Institute of Art

Man's cloth

Anlo Ewe artist

Date

20th century

Medium

Synthetic, cotton, strip woven, supplementary weft patterning

Culture

Anlo Ewe

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Ewe people include several distinct cultural groups, two of which have significant Kente traditions. The Ewe Anlo produce a cloth that is very different from the Asante or the Ewe Adangbe styles. Eliminating the blocks and stripes of color, Anlo weavers float typical Ewe motifs, such as umbrellas, hands, combs, and drums, on a plain ground or on a surface of subtle striping. Strips containing imagery alternate with strips segmented by narrow color bars. The effect conveys a sense of lightness and spontaneity that contrasts dramatically with the precision of the traditional basket weave layout of the other groups. Anlo Ewe, Ghana, Africa

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