Visiting Artist Series with Kwasi Asare Lecture: Weaving
Adult Course | Available
VAS Kwasi Asare Lecture: Weaving
Kwasi Asare, a master Kente weaver from the Ashanti tribe in Ghana, has developed a special handloom and supplementary information and materials for the Kwasi Asare Kente Weaving Course. Using Kwasi Asare’s specially designed small Kente loom, it is now possible for people from all over the world, from any background, race or culture, to try their hand at creating simple pieces of Kente cloth fabric.
Kente is Africa’s most well-known and prized fabric. While it originated with the Ashanti people in Ghana, it has become popular throughout Africa and the Americas, especially since the late 80s and early 90s. African Americans and other Africans from the African Diaspora love the association of Kente with leadership and royalty, not to mention the magnificent colors and wonderful feel of the fabric itself. It has come to represent the spiritual heritage of African Americans through the journey of the Middle Passage and an authentic, unbroken connection to the Motherland.
Kwasi Asare
One of Africa’s most prominent and accomplished weavers; he is particularly known for Kente cloth, the highly prized Ghanaian cloth that has traditionally symbolized royalty, honor and leadership.
His understanding of Kente cloth and the weaving traditions of Africa is unparalleled, but more importantly, Kwasi truly loves his art and profession. With his smile and easy-going manner, he joyfully reaches out to adults, youth and children alike with a desire to share a vision of creativity, love and self-expression. Through his workshops and presentations, Kwasi is excited to see students of all ages develop a stronger mind-body connection by being absorbed in careful, detailed work with their hands. Working with his own special easy-to-use hand looms, Kwasi’s students can create their own wonderful pieces of the honored and venerable Kente cloth. This kind of artistic work is a much-needed counterbalance to a world where many of us spend countless hours every day hours typing on a keyboard or viewing device screens. In this way, working with Kwasi’s s looms becomes like a meditation process. This activity helps students get in touch with the patience, creativity, vision and attention to detail necessary for creating something beautiful and valuable with one’s hands. The workshop is universal – it is educational, informative and attractive to virtually anyone from any age or background.