Akwete – Unraveling The Vibrant Legacy of Weaving
Akwete is a decorative cloth with complex weave designs, creating intricate geometric patterns, and made with many vibrant colors. Specially woven by Igbo women in Akwete area near Aba in Abia State, Akwete was originally referred to as “Akwa Miri” (Cloth of the water) meaning towel.
Akwete cloth weaving is as old as the igbo nation. Its history is traced to a woman named Dada Nwakwata, an astonishing weaver active in the late nineteenth century, when palm oil trading was at a peak.
Akwete cloth comes in different colours and designs. Some are in the patterns of red and black designs, interwoven in geometric patterns on the white ground which is favoured by Igbo men.
Read Also: Ọja – The Speaking Flute
Weaving of Akwete is exclusive to women. In fact, it is seen as a type of women empowerment and as a livelihood for women. Men are allowed to sell and build the materials needed for weaving but are not allowed to weave.
The women who make Akwete cloth usually start doing so at a very young age. The Akwete community considers cloth weaving to be a gift; you have to be born with it. Young girls begin weaving cloth as soon as their arms are long enough to work the loom. Each cloth can take weeks to weave.
Akwete is woven on an upright wall loom, with cloth about 100 to 127 cm (40 to 50 inches) wide. The Akwete loom is the widest in Nigeria. Usually the warp is continuous, which gives an evenly coloured background for the weave.
Blended or shot effects can occasionally be gained by mixing the colours of the warps or using a contrasting colour for the ground weft. On single-faced fabrics (on which the motif only shows on one side), weft floaters are woven in using the swivel inlay technique. The ground is a low twist yarn, basket weave, usually of cotton. The decorative weft floaters are of low twist cotton, silk or rayon.
All the thread is bought ready dyed. The decorative weft not used on one line of base weft is carried up to the next row, often on a diagonal, hence outlining the motif. As the warp is continuous, the finished length of the cloth is twice the height of the loom.
Some Akwete cloths are woven from sisal-hemp fibres are of coarse type, used by masqueraders, and by warriors as headgears, while others are made from raffia fibres and are used on religious occasions like the Ozo titleship, and for mourning by women.
The four main patterns in Akwete cloth include;
Etirieti, which is rather plain and made up of mostly stripes and squares, Akpukpa, a very vibrant pattern that is often purchased by foreigners, Ahia, a rather complex design that is controlled by the number of heddles (a cord or wire that the thread passes through), and Ogbanaonweya, an intricate pattern used mostly by the Akwete community itself.
Akwete cloths attracted the patronage of the Ijo and the Igbo for title-taking and other ceremonies as well as visiting tourists as souvenirs and for interior decorations.
It is beautiful to see that Akwete has not lost its originality, and the people of Akwete are still in sole control of their fabric.