Innovation in Weaving Napkin on the Kente Loom

Abstract

The Kente weaving industry in Ghana is a vibrant one.  It is one of the foreign exchange earners of the country. Although meagre, the revenue generated by the Kente weaving industry in Ghana makes a significant impact on the citizenry. Apart from the economic value of Kente, the fabric plays a great role in the socio-cultural development of Ghana. Kente is worn during festive occasions such as durbars, outdooring of chiefs and newly born babies as well as marriage ceremonies. Kente is worn all-over the world to portray the Ghanaian culture. However, current developments where Kente fabrics are being pirated by the Chinese and other Nationals give a cause for concern. There is the need to move away from the usual blame games towards finding a lasting solution to this canker. One of the ways of addressing this issue is to pay much attention to quality and rebranding of the Kente weaving industry. It is for this and many other reasons that this topic which is aimed at modifying the Kente loom to weave napkin and other fabrics came to mind. Considering the technical nature of the topic, the descriptive (qualitative) method of research was adopted for the study. This made it possible for the adoption of a more practical approach towards realizing the aims and objectives of the study. The main research instruments employed for the study were observation and questionnaires. The accessible population for the study was made up of 90 (ninety) respondents knowledgeable in the field of Textiles. This was categorized into Textile Practitioners, Textile Lecturers and Tutors on one hand and Fashion and Textiles Students on the other hand. A major finding of the study is that, any type of fabric can be woven on the Kente loom provided the necessary changes are made on the loom. It is therefore recommended that the Kente loom should be modernized and if possible mechanized so as to ensure efficiency and quality as well as higher production rate and revenue.

Keywords: Weaving, Quality, Kente loom, Textiles and Foreign Exchange.