R6081 Blouse; Batakari

Bakatari blouse (Museum Accession Number R6081)

This blouse is part of a women’s kaba outfit. A kaba and slit is a two or three piece outfit worn by Ghanaian women, consisting of a fitted blouse with wide sleeves, a wrapper skirt, and sometimes a matching headwrap. This blouse is made from narrow woven kente strips, hand stitched together, and then tailored by machine, indicating that cloth is older than the tailoring. Kente refers to a textile that is made by traditionally weaving coloured cotton and silk into varied and intricate patterns. The practice was originated by the Asante and Ewe people in Ghana. Collected as part of the Fashioning Africa project.

Creator: unknown

Place: Hohoe, Volta Region, Ghana, West Africa, Africa

Date: c1960