Ethnic - Three Blue Baskets

The entire history of the world can be read in textiles. The aesthetics of African design, its forms and patterns constitute a heritage as varied as it is sumptuous, presented here in all its spectacular richness: the visual experience in sober indigos and the wide range of techniques used in Africa.

Kente is one of the most famous African fabrics in the world. It is a multi-coloured cotton fabric, thought to have once been made from raffia. The first written mention of the name kente (in the form 'kintee') dates from 1847 when it was used to describe a fabric located in the town of Popo in present-day Togo. It is believed to be an Ewe fabric, the name of one of the two main ethnic groups to whom the fabric is attributed, the other being the Ashanti of Ghana. According to traditions found among the Ewe of Ghana, the word is broken down in the Ewe language into the verbs ke and te meaning respectively 'to open' and 'to close' which describe the raising and lowering of the warp threads necessary for weaving.

According to an Ashanti tradition, the fabric was originally made of raffia, a material also used to make baskets and mattresses, formerly called kenten and kete. Another Ashanti version would make it a phrase from that language meaning 'whatever happens to it, it will not tear'. Another etymology reports that kente would have been a Fanti word, an Akan language of Ghana meaning basket.