CENTRE FOR INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS (CEFIKS)
Presents
Master Weaver in Residence

Ekoɔba Gyasi
From Bonwire, Ghana

Mr. Ekooba Gyasi is the owner and director of the Bowire Kente Weaving Institute.

The Kente Weaving Institute and CEFIKS are working together in documenting the apprenticeship system in the kente weaving process. Apprenticeship has been an age-long method used in training young people in trades and crafts, agriculture, business, and other occupations. During the pre-colonial days, apprenticeship was the mode of training. It is a common feature of the traditional setting to see people engage in a vocation such as farming, fishing, hunting, carving, carpentry, weaving, sculpting, painting, building, decorating, smithing, catering, boat-making, mat-making, dyeing and so on. The apprenticeship system was an institution that was jealously guarded by customs, lineage and rituals.

In this collaborative project we hope to answer the following and other questions:

1. What is the training orientation given to the apprentice by the textile weaving and printing crafts?

2. What are the common training techniques employed by the master-craftsmen in imparting skills to apprentices?

3. How are the apprentices evaluated to ascertain their mastery of the vocation? What are the evaluation criteria for graduation?

Sample kente - adwiniasa - woven by Mr. Gyasi

We are glad to announce that the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Systems - CEFIKS - has a master kente weaver, Ekɔoba Gyasi, in-residence in the USA. Ekɔoba Gyasi is a master weaver from Bonwire, Asante. Mr. Gyasi has demonstrated, lectured and taught kente weaving in schools in Ghana, and in schools and museums across the USA. He provides demonstrations and workshops for schools and colleges and the general public.

For more information about how to get Mr. Gyasi to give demonstration to your group or school in th U.S., please contact

CEFIKS Publications,
3548 Cherry Hill Court,
Beltsville, MD 20705.
Telephone: 301-592-7615
E-mail: cefiks@cfik.org.