7 Conclusion

Here are a few summary points to help you, in particular, with your thinking about Themes 1 and 2 above. As a further exercise, you might like to identify examples from the course to illustrate these points.

The making of kente and adinkra represent important art forms in Ghana, and cloth in general is highly valued. The video gives an indication of the previous development of cloth-making and the sense that it is ongoing, whether in terms of new materials, new meanings, changing functions, new ways of working, or new designs. Since the sixteenth century, European views of art have tended to label textile-making as a craft. In addition, those with Eurocentric assumptions may associate traditional crafts with skills that are unchanging and old-fashioned.