This batakari shirt was purchased by Sylvanus Akakpo in 2002, in Tamale in the northern region of Ghana, whilst he was attending a West Africa Network For Peace training event in the town. A batakari or Ghanaian Smock is a plaid shirt, made from hand woven strips that are sewn together and tailored into a garment, with machine embroidered neck decoration. Batakaris are popular garments originating from the north, but are worn by men from all over Ghana and West Africa. Akakpo wore this garment often before he sold it to the Museum in 2017. Collected as part of the Fashioning Africa Project.
Creator: Unknown
Place: Kpetoe, Volta Region, Ghana, West Africa, Africa
Date: 2002