The art and craft industry of Ashanti is indeed, very unique. The region actually has villages noted for certain crafts. The region can boast of Bonwire for kente, Ntonso for Adinkra, Ehwia for woodcarving and Pankrono for pottery.

 

Many prople patronize the Adinkra symbols and cloth, but do you know where and how the authentic Adinkra is produced?

 

Ntonso and its surrounding villages form the core of Ashanti Adinkra production.

Right by the town’s roads, one can see signs of Adinkra as the dyed red and black Adinkra cloths are displayed.

 

The Tiwobaabi village produces some of the best Adinkra designs in Ashanti. There are two main traditional methods of Adinkra production. The traditional method involves the use of designed wooden or metal stamps while the more modern technique is screen printing.

 

Originally, the dyes for Adinkra were obtained from the bark of the tree called Badie. The Bark was first softened by being soaked in water, pounded and boiled. When the colour emerges from the pulp, it was sieved and then used for designing the fabrics.

 

There are different stamps forming the Adinkra symbols used for designing the fabric. Each of these symbols depicts a proverb, a statement or a description. Sometimes various symbols are used on one fabric and that also has its meaning.

 

Screen-printing is a much faster way of producing the Adinkra fabric. The splendid use of symbols and colours shows the quality of the cloth and the status of the one who wears it.