A
webquest activity designed to help students explore the interrelationships
of the arts and culture in Africa
Introduction
The Akan of Ghana and LaCote
d'Ivoire is an African cultural and linguistic group that inhabit central
and southern Ghana and the south eastern Ivory coast. The dominant
tribe is called the Ashanti (or Asante), but the area is culturally subdivided
into 25 ethnic groups. The Twi language is spoken. This group
has developed a system of pictographic symbols, each associated with a
specific proverb or saying that is rooted in the Akan experience.
These symbols form a system of writing that preserves and transmits the
accumulated cultural values of the Akan people. They are used to
decorate the adinkra cloth, an important art object that constitues a code
in which the Akan have deposited some aspects of the sum of their knowledge.
Adinkra is the only African cloth printing tradition of pre-Colonial origin.
According to Asante legend it was introduced in 1818 following the capture
of a rival monarch by the name of Adinkra, who wore the cloth to express
his sorrow on being taken to Kumase. Adinkra involves the printing
of designs in a black dye made from the bark of certain trees, using stamps
carved from sections of calabash.
Task
The arts of a people offer an illuminating view of
its culture - its thought processes, attitudes, beliefs, and values.
Just as written documents materialize history in literate communities,
so in traditional societies, art forms make the intangible past more real.
Prior to beginning the project of creating your own Adinkra cloth, it is
valuable to understand the relationship between art and culture in Africa.
By completing the following activities, you will become aware of the Asante
culture and how it influences the design of the adinkra cloth.
Process
Complete the following activities in your sketchbook.
Activity #1
Access the following sites. Research one Akan symbol. Sketch
the symbol and write the proverb or legend that the symbol is based on.
Identify (in writing) the connection between the visual symbol and the
proverb that inspired it.
http://www.marshall.edu/akanart/adinkracloth.html
http://users.erols.com/kemet/adinkra.htm
Activity #2
Access the following site. List the steps (in writing) of the
basic printing process used to decorate Adinkra cloth.
http://www.adire.clara.net/adinkraintroduction.htm
Activity #3
Access the following site. Research the geographic location of
Ghana and the Ivory Coast and the
history of the Asanti people. How did location of the Asanti
people play an important role in their history? What role did the
gold trade with the British have on the Asanti tribe?
http://www.fa.indiana.edu/~conner/akan/shape.html
Activity#4
The legend of the Golden Stool has been used to explain the Asanti
dominance over the 25 other
ethnic tribes located in the Ghana and Ivory Coast region. Access
the following site and read the
legend.
http://www.africana.com/tt_007.htm
http://www.otumfuofund.org/history.html
Extra Credit
Identify (in writng) the paticular celebration that the Adinkra cloth
was created for. How is the cloth used in this celebration?
Resources
Some additional resourses that will help your research
effort:
http://www.dubois.fas.harvard.edu/dubois/narratives/asante/GOLDENST.html
http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Asante.html
The Adinkra Dictionary: A Visual Primer on The Language of
ADINKRA by W. Bruce Willis
Teacher Handout
Evaluation
Upon completion of the webquest, the teacher will
check each student computer to visually verify that the student has accessed
a majority of the suggested web resources.
Activity#1
Student should have completed a sketch (copy)
of one Adinkra symbol, written the legend, and made some connections between
the visual symbol and the text on which it is based.
Activity#2
The student should have a list of at least 10
steps needed to create an Adinkra cloth. The list should begin with
creating the basic stamp. For extra credit, the student could explore
Kente cloth and how the Kente strips were used to join various sections
of printed Adinkra cloth.
Activity#3
The student should write a paragraph explaining
the Asante's rise to power in the Gold Coast region and the relationship
with Britian.
Activity#4
Student should enjoy the legend of the Golden
Stool. The teacher may check to see that the appropriate website
was accessed.
Conclusion
In Africa, both art and life are intertwined.
Because Africa is a vast continent, the traditions and art forms are often
specific to a geographic area. The activities included in this web
quest are not an attempt to define the totality of adinkra cloth but an
attempt to give a basic introduction to and understanding of the art form
and the Asante people.
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