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Title
Colourful changes: two hundred years of design and social history in the hand-woven textiles of the Ewe speaking regions of Ghana and Togo (1800-2000) |
Full text
http://irs.ub.rug.nl/ppn/291088422 |
Date
2005 |
Author(s)
Kraamer, Malika |
Abstract
In this study I examine changes that have taken place in several distinct traditions of Ewe weaving in different areas of the Volta region of Ghana and southern Togo in the 19th and 20th centuries through an account based upon field research in Ghana and Togo, textiles in museum collections, and archival and secondary sources. This research provides a description of techniques, materials and motifs, and investigates the development of these textiles' forms and industries, the relationship between their histories and the emergence of 20th century Ewe identities, the social networks of making and marketing these cloths, and the significance of patterns and designs within the wider domains of social practice. The study shows that change lies at the core of these textile traditions, and argues that to understand the ways in which these changes have occurred, one must understand the technology (chapter two), local fabric classifications (chapter three) and concepts of creativity (chapter eight), the education system (chapter six), the production (chapter six), consumption (chapter five) and distribution (chapter seven) of the textiles, and the practice of designing a new pattern (chapter eight). The research highlights interrelationships with Yoruba and Asante textiles; documents mutual influences in detail (chapter three), not only through physical contact between weavers, but also through trade in textiles; and formulates new hypotheses on the early evolution of design and techniques of Ewe and Asante weaving (chapter four). This research not only looks at the historical process of naming cloths, but also focuses on the intricate relationship between textile names and actual types of cloth, both geographically as well as historically. This is a relationship that turns out to be far from unilateral (chapter three). Furthermore, the historical and geographical trajectories of the main types of textiles are encapsulated in this classification, and in local terminology of equipments and techniques. This study also provides a detailed account of the Ewe ethno genesis (chapter one) and demonstrates that such an identity plays a limited role in the production and use of textiles from the Ewe-speaking region (chapter five). In the concluding chapter, I consider the reasons for the impressive diversity of Ewe textiles and for developments in design. I argue that the creative ability of weavers to survive in a harsh economic environment to satisfy customers' demand, which often lacks specificity, by experimenting with leftover materials, is the main force that directs design changes and therefore accounts for the varied developments in Ewe textiles. |
Language
en |
Relation
http://www.rug.nl/ |
Type of publication
Dissertation |
Rights
Malika Kraamer |
Repository
Groningen - University of Groningen
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Added to C-A: 2014-02-18;15:19:11 |
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