Overview
Akwete cloth is the broad hand-woven textile of Akwete, a town in Abia State in Igbo country. Unlike narrow-strip weaving, it is woven in a single wide piece on an upright loom, and the craft is carried almost entirely by women.
Origin and history
Weaving at Akwete is recorded from at least the nineteenth century and is believed to be older, developing from earlier raffia and cotton weaving in the region. The town's cloth travelled through delta trade routes and was worn well beyond Igbo country. New motifs entered the repertoire as weavers copied designs from imported cloth, and individual weavers are known for inventing patterns that then spread. Production continues in the town today, alongside cooperative and market sales.
Materials and techniques
The weaver works standing or seated at a tall single-heddle upright loom, producing a cloth wide enough to be worn as a wrapper without joining. Cotton is the base yarn, with supplementary threads — historically including raffia and hand-spun cotton, now often rayon or synthetic yarn — floated over the surface to build raised motifs. Patterns are held in memory rather than drawn, and a large cloth may take weeks.
Cultural significance
Akwete cloth is worn as a wrapper for title-taking, marriages, funerals and festivals, and particular patterns have been associated with particular families or reserved by their inventors. As a women's craft it gave weavers income and reputation in their own right, and named patterns act as a record of who made what.
Notable examples
Ikaki
A tortoise motif, among the best known of the named Akwete patterns.
Ebe
A pattern name in the traditional Akwete repertoire, worked in supplementary float weave.
Connected history and culture
The cloth belongs to the same Igbo ceremonial world as Uli body and wall art and the title and festival dress described in the pages on traditional institutions.