Lecture Entry: Professor Babatunde Lawal

VCU Art History Professor Babatunde Lawal gave an informative lecture on the Kente fabrics belonging to the Ashante people of Ghana. In his lecture, which occurred this week at the University of Richmond, he exposed the link between clothing and language, by means of iconographic patterns and colors. Lawal noted the importance of the body and its clothing in terms of culture and class. Iconographic images woven into clothing show occupation, status, wealth, power, and even stories. The patterns and colors featured in Kente fabrics can be readily interpreted by the Ashante. Unlike the Ewe people in Ghana, who use cool colors in their clothing, the Ashante employ bold, dramatic colors and patterns. Within their patterns, hands represent friendship, stools represent repose, elephants stand for nobility, and zigzags signify the energy of life, as well as the unpredictable elements found in life. The fish head motif recalls an ancient Ashante adage, "a wise person will grab a fish by the head, only a stupid person will grab it by the tail and let it slip". As with every culture, the Ashante has a set of associations to accompany the colors in their clothing: white is purity, black represents power, obscurity, and secrecy, red is for blood and vitality, yellow is for ripeness, green signifies clairvoyance and healing, and blue is for water.
I am alway interested in the different meanings attached to colors. I had no idea about the significance of every element featured in this culture's dress. Marcus Garvey, the leader of the Back to Africa movement in the early twentieth century, adopted the Kente fabrics as his own and wore bold, commanding colors such as black, red, and green. Golden stool patterns, which I had seen before on graduation stoles, are sacred to the Ashante; they represent repose and are prominent in funerary rites. Professor Lawal talked about Kente's importance in America today thanks to the Civil Rights movement in the fifties and sixties. Muhammad Ali championed the Ashante's designs after he visited Ghana during his prime.