Mr. Akwasi Agyemang, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), has commended Messrs Precise Company Limited, contractors working on the Bonwire Kente Museum project for the commitment to duty.
“We are hoping the project will be finished as scheduled in October, this year, to serve its noble purposes,” he noted.
The project, which commenced in the latter part of 2020, is meant to promote tourism by telling the history of the iconic kente cloth and its importance to the socio-cultural and economic development of the country.
Mr. Agyemang, in an interview with the media in Kumasi, after he had inspected the project, said the uniqueness of the cloth ought to be preserved, and therefore, the GTA would keenly monitor the project for its successful execution.
According to the CEO, the iconic cloth continued to be associated with wealth, high social status, and cultural sophistication, saying the Museum would help add up to the gains by the GTA in recent times.
“Kente is more than just a cloth. It is an iconic visual representation of the history, philosophy, ethics, oral literature, religious beliefs, and social values of the people,” he told the media.
The Museum is a government initiative, and the first of its kind in the country, to serve as a hub for all the kente varieties.
According to the contractors, about 50 percent of the work on the project had been executed.
On completion, the facility would have a showroom, offices, washrooms, and other ancillary facilities.
Kente (Akan: nwentoma; Ewe: kete) refers to a Ghanaian textile, made of handwoven cloth, strips of silk, and cotton.
Historically the fabric was worn in a toga-like fashion by royalty among ethnic groups such as the Ashanti and Ewe in modern-day Ghana, the wearing of Kente cloth has become widespread to commemorate special occasions, with highly sought after Kente brands led by master weavers.
Due to the popularity of Kente cloth patterns, Kente print, which is a mass-produced version, is popular throughout the West. Globally, the print is used in the design of academic stoles in graduation ceremonies.
BGD
