The History of Adinkra Cloths

Adinkra

- Adinkra means “a message to the departed.”

- Adinkra are symbols used mostly on cloth or pottery.

- Adinkra was created by the Asante people, who lived in

what is now known as southern Ghana.
Adinkra Symbols

- Adinkra symbols represent particular values

and ideas.
- Originally the cloth was worn by men and
women when they attended funerals. The
symbols on their clothes would represent
qualities of the deceased person.
- Now, the cloths are often worn for many types
of special occasions.
Can you raise
your hand
and tell me a
symbol that
might apply
to your life?
Making Adinkra Stamps

- The Asante people use

carved pieces of dried
gourd to create stamps.
- The type of gourd they
use is called a Calabash
Gourd.
Adinkra Aduru Dye

- This is the name of the dye used by the Asante

people to make the Adinkra designs.

- The dye is made from the bark of the Badie Tree.

Adinkra Cloths

- Adinkra cloths are made in long strips and then sewn

together to make larger strips of cloth or clothes.
Weaving

- Similar to the way the Asante

people sew the cloth strips
together, we will be weaving
strips of paper together to
form our own Adinkra cloths!
 Vegetables

- While the Asante people use dried gourd to create their

stamps, we will be using vegetables to create our stamps.
For example...

Bell Peppers!

And Carrots!
Potatoes!
Vegetable Stamps

- You will choose vegetable shapes and pre-cut

vegetable stamps that best represent you,
similar to how the Asante people choose
symbols to represent themselves or others!

- Instead of using Adinkra Aduru dye, we will

use black and white acrylic paint.
Final

- At the end of this

project, you will have
created your own
Adinkra papers!