Man's cloth

Asante artist

20th century

Synthetic, silk, strip woven, supplementary weft patterning

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A woven textile features a repeating checkerboard pattern of orange squares interspersed with smaller blocks of green, yellow, and blue. The top and bottom edges have horizontal bands of zigzagging patterns in various colors. In general, Asante cloths are given names based on the pattern of warp stripes that comprise the ground cloth. Because this piece has a solid color for the background, the cloth would likely be named after the predominant design element, which in this case is <I>nkyimkyim</I>, or zigzag pattern. This design symbolizes the idea that life is not a straight line, but is rather a crooked path that requires qualities of prudence, vigilance and balance to navigate. This is an example of <I>adweneasa</I> (fullness of design) in which every inch of cloth is covered with weft patterns. <I>Adweneasa cloths</I> are considered to be the most pr