The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Woven Splendor: Kente Cloths from West Africa

Sunday, June 11, 2006—Sunday, October 15, 2006
Gallery 255
Free Exhibition

In 2005 the MIA's Textile Department acquired a group of 35 West African textiles through a generous gift of funds provided by the Regis Foundation. Many of these objects will be featured in the first installation of the new textile galleries in the McKim, Mead and White building.

This exhibition presents Kente cloth woven by the Asante and Ewe peoples of Ghana and Togo. From the simplicity of a traditional white and indigo cotton wrapper to an elaborately woven, brilliantly colored garment, these cloths reveal a wide range of stylistic, technical, and artistic variations.