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"Adinkra" meaning “saying goodbye to one another” in
the Ghanaian language, is one of the highly valued hand-printed and
embroidered cloths in West Africa. Although several the Gyaman people
of Cote d'Ivoire make Adinkra cloths, its origin can be traced to
the Ashante people of Ghana , formerly known as Gold Coast. Adindra
has therefore come to be associated more with the Ashante than with
any other group of people in the West African sub-region.
During the 19 th century, the Ashante developed the unique art
of Adinkra printing on cloth made and used exclusively by royalty
and spiritual leaders for very important sacred ceremonies and rituals.
In modern times however, Adinkra cloths are used for a wide range
of social activities. Each of the motifs of Adinkra has a meaning
derived either from a proverb, a historical event, human attitudes
or a philosophy of the Asante people. The logo for Wim-Ped Inc is
an Adinkra symbol called NKYINKYIM meaning TWISTINGS, symbolizing Initiative,
Dynamism and Versatility.
Kente on the other hand is a unique and colorful type of cloth
woven on a narrow horizontal loom. The loom usually uses four heddles
(asanan ), but in special cases, six or
seven heddles (asasia ) may be used. The
cloth is woven by hand using cotton yarn into narrow strips (called ntomaban
or bankuo ). Several strips are sewn together to make
a wider piece of cloth and worn by both men and women for very special
occasions. The largest known kente cloth, measuring about 12X20 feet,
is the piece Ghana presented to the United Nations in 1960. This
cloth is called tikoro nko agyina - one head does constitute a council.
We at Wim-Ped have the privilege of offering our clients some customized
Kente Strips that can be worn during special occasions such as graduation
ceremonies, meetings, festivals and even can be worn by groups
and societies as a means of identifying their own

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