Goodbye Ghana, hello Rome!

So here I am back in Rome...another amazing trip gone by already and a heavy suitcase full of cloth to remember it by. I'm going to miss my new friends, and old friends revisited from last year...I missed Michelle and Ian and the boys my last week, but was more than happy spending some more time with Trish and her crazy bird (although her car alarm noises at 6am were slightly less appreciated...!) I am already enjoying the lower humidity here in Rome, although it's still pretty hot. I won't miss the mosquitoes, or the whiff and potential danger of open drains - especially when being constantly honked at by taxis when walking around. "Obruni Traps" they call them. And I definitely won't miss the traffic - and the countless marriage proposals. One guy even just approached me on the street saying "Hello, My Wife" !!! I had never seen him before in my life, and reminded him of this fact. To which he replied, "oh, but you could be!" I will miss the mangoes, the pineapple and the pawpaw, but I'm so glad to have good cheese back in my life. And I have a whole wardrobe of new fabrics and bags and jewelry to have fun with. Thank you Ghana, and hopefully see you again soon!

My Last Night: a Conference, a Salsa lesson, and Waakye for breakfast...

A view from my bed last night: was very awake after a stimulating evening and was watching the breeze move the curtains, and the changing lights coming from outside moving the pattern on the cloth...I had a very eventful last night, starting with an event at Golden Tulip hotel, which Martina Odonkor invited me to. It was part of a series called "Adventures of the Diaspora", and was particularly interesting as it was a big discussion about re-vamping the National Museum (which is in a state - most of the 25 000 artefacts are collecting dust in the basement, and the rest are poorly manned by staff who are either asleep, or would be better off asleep given their helpfulness when awake!) There were some pretty big speakers: government members, the head of the museum board, a top local gallery owner and a couple of famous artists. It was a heated discussion and I met some interesting people - and then Martina whisked me off to a club called The 3121 which has Salsa on a Thursday...

It was great fun as there were guys on the dance floor who were teachers, and the music was good, if a little loud. But hey, thats Ghana for you. However, at about 11pm the music changed drastically to what I assumed was HipLife (a hip-hop local mix with "HighLife", the Ghanaian popular music), as all the young men formed lines and carried out a very smooth routine that everyone clearly knew and loved. It was quite amusing as at this very moment a large group of "Obruni" (white) volunteers charged in, with a boldness that could only mean they had been in a drinking spot somewhere beforehand. It was very amusing seeing them try to join in, much to the delight (and horror) of the local boys. We stayed on the sidelines and laughed a lot, then decided it was time for bed...I wish I had had my camera handy!

I have decided for my last breakfast I'm going to go out in a moment and buy some Waakye (pronounced wachii) which is a very wholesome mix of rice and beans, which ususally comes with an egg or some kind of meat, and shitole or pepper sauce (often left out on my part if its only breakfast!) I also ask for some gari which is like a flavoursome couscous topping made from a cassava and plantain mix. That should set me up for my last day!

Ahene pa Nkasa

After showing my new cloth to Trish yesterday, she happily informed me of the Twi name, since it is also the name of her bead company! "Ahene pa Nkasa" has various translations, one of which is the bee version mentioned yesterday, the other more along the lines of "Quality Speaks for Itself". I decided to give her half (what was I going to do with 6 yards of fabric anyway?!) and I'm glad I chose a pattern that is so fitting. Below I've posted a photo of the necklace I gave to Michelle before she left as a big Thank you, made by Trish. She has some gorgeous stuff, most of which includes recycled local glass beads, and brass pieces made through the traditional lost-wax method.

Check out her website if you're interested: http://www.ahenepankasa.com/

The Trade Fair and Makola Market

Here I am rounding up some more fabric before I leave...tomorrow I will pick up some of Esther's batiks that I had made into trousers - the same design as the red ones I got last year which I love. Trish took me to the Trade Fair yesterday, and there was so much stuff, mostly from Ghana but also from other West African countries. The fabrics and the bead stalls were the most interesting - the latter especially so since Trish was with me. I bought some new stuff from Burkina Faso - an amazing green hand-dyed ikat strip, about three times the width of a kente strip (see below)...and some beautiful tie-dyed indigo (stitch resist pattern) cloth from Guinea pictured above.
I couldn't leave Accra without going to Makola Market again, after last year's visit with Trish and Michelle I ventured by myself this time to look for some printed indigo Dutch-wax, and found this pattern (below) which has the title "The best bees work in silence". Strangely enough, the bees in this fabric are so "silent" they are non -existent. Still, it's a beautiful print...and I got a new pink back scrubber wash cloth too!

The Arts Centre

Following a quick visit on the weekend with Paul and Trish, I returned to the Arts Centre to meet with a guy who apparently has quite a large selection of old cloths. I immediately spotted Kwasi, who was sat with another older man stitching strips back together where the fabric had fallen apart. He casually mentioned that the likes of John Gillow from London (the guy who has written a very well known book on African Textiles) come to him to buy cloths - and was quick to start rumaging in his little hut stuffed with bags bursting with cloth when I mentioned I was a student interested in his variety of stuff...unfortunately I had long run out of money enough to buy one, but he let me take lots of photographs!

Kwasi going through his bags - literally every one stuffed with amazing old cloths!

Two Ewe cloths: you can just make out the hand-stitching in the colourful one above, and the one below has an amazing range of symbols and figures done in the typical supplementary weft style.

Two Ashanti cloths: the close-up above had a beautiful purple background, which has come out more of a blue colour in the photo, and the piece below is a stunning example of a cloth whose design has been "exhausted" - meaning the weaver has shown off his skill by including many different complicated patterns.

One of his many bags of scraps - he usually takes a strip off a cloth so he can use it to repair the other bits that have holes or are ripped etc. I had a good rummage and took a few home...

A Fante Flag from the Central region - which is an applique technique, not a woven one, but still interesting! and very old.

Trish's House

After a few days spent recovering from whatever I managed to pick up on the last leg of my trip, I have been spending most of my time around the house or with Ian and Michelle, since they leave to Canada today! I have been having lots of fun with my camera in Trish's house, as it is truly magical with the light, all her fabrics and beads, and all the colours and textures that go with them...here is the spare bedroom, where I sleep. It is full of beautiful things...a batik print by Esther on the bed, a hand embroidered cushion by Trish herself, a very old strip-woven Nigerian fabric hanging in the corner, and just visible indigo printed Dutch wax curtains. I'm in heaven!

No lack of colour with her signature glass beads - mostly made from recycled glass here in Ghana.

A beautiful wall piece that was part of a recent exhibition she had with a painter - and now shes adapting this particular style to be worn too. All hand embroidered!

More batik and great baskets, good light too

The yellow walls with blue door frames is reminiscent of Bib's house - good choice ladies!

Our TV-watching or reading chairs - Trish sits on the right on her very old piece of Ewe Kente cloth, and a cushion she has sewn an Ashanti strip into, and I lounge on the right on a beautiful indigo ikat from Nigeria. All hand stitched old cloths.

A yummy bowl of beads above...and lots of beautiful baskets for storage below
Lyla the African Grey Parrot - she is amazing and loves to copy sounds. Her favourite, starting at 6am, are exact replicas of taxi car breaks as they turn the corner next to the house, car alarms, cat call whistles, various other exoctic bird noises, and her incoherent radio mumbling. "Hey Bird!", "OK" and "Wow" are all done in careful copying of Trish's voice - and her birdy cackle and bird dance are equally amusing! She loves to have her feathers stroked so she sticks her head out of her cage in anticipation, but if you're not paying enough attention, she might take a bite out of a finger for you...

Her mini jungle verandah and gin-and-tonic drinking spot

Taking photos of her trade beads: some old (above), some new...and some painted (below)

Trish's "shop" doesn't look out of place in her living room...

Scarves found in the second hand market: mostly Indian

The blue kitchen - lots of bottles saved to be melted down into beads?!

Finally, a great kettle that has been stamped by hand, from Bida

Last stop at Lake Bosomtwi

After Daboya and Tamale, I started my journey back down to Accra. I really wanted to see Bib again and she invited me to spend the night so that's what I did last Sunday, and we both left early the next morning to Kumasi. I got off the tro-tro at Ntonso, the village I visited last year which is famous for its Adinkra cloth, and jumped in a taxi to Adanwomase, where I had met Gyimah and his great uncle, know as "The Old Man". Unofrtunately I didn't get my interview as the Old Man passed away in November, so I had to settle with his great nephew. For my last night I headed to meet up with Greetje and Arie, who were staying at the place called Lake Point on Lake Bosomtwi...
It was good to see them again, and we lounged by the lake, had mud fights in the water (the bottom of the lake is very slimy with a mud that bubbles up when you stick your toes in it - the only reason it is safe from Bilharzia), and tried to balance on the planks the fisherman use as "boats" in this meteor-made body of water.

Dinner in the lovely restaurant - with a beautifully decorated mosaic bench and bamboo curtains. We also got through quite a bit of red wine, and Stars, which is the local beer.

Sharing photos and making fun with the stories from our trips and past experiences in Ghana - all helped along by wine-induced laughter...and then I slept alone in the huge dormitory which is open from the metre-high wall to the thatched roof - so I fell asleep to shadows of the trees moving in the wind projected by the moon onto my mosquito net...

Daboya

After my stay at Hand in Hand, I travelled north to Tamale, spending 5 hours on the bus with another person I had just met the same day, a Dutch student called Marlou. She had been working in a village just outside Kumasi, and was taking a break for a couple weeks to travel around the country. We met up with Lars and Wendy who had travelled north the day before, and all 3 joined me to visit Daboya the next day. We woke up to catch the only bus that travels the bumpy road down the 60km that took more than 2hrs to drive. Upon arrival, we were dropped on the banks of the White Volta, where we had to proceed by canoe (above) to the village itself.

Throughout our guided tour (with Musa, who is part of the Eco-Tourism scheme set up in Daboya) we were followed by a group of grinning, but slightly intimidated, young children...all wanting to be photographed.

The "Chief's Shop" - where fabric gets sewn together into Smocks. Musa, on the far right, with his buddies from school who all work in the textile trade.

Musa showing off a "Guniea Fowl" patterned smock - the bottom half balloons out so that it can be swirled around as pictured below:

Young boys at their weaving stations

The indigo dying pits - a bunch of yarn being "aired" so that the oxygen in the air can activate the desired colour.

When it first emerges, the yarn is more of a turquoise colour, almost green...and has to be dyed multiple times to achieve the dark blue colour used to weave.

This is a fantastic photo of the dyer shaking out any leaves from the dye bath that have gotten stuck inside the yarn during the dying process

everything around the pits turn indigo, its a lovely sight since the colour is so rich

Even this man's hands, shoes and trousers are stained with the pigment

Having a go myself - much to the amusement of the locals!

My favourite photograph so far - two men relaxing and sewing next to the indigo-painted mosque

Close-up of the hand stitching on the old man's smock

Having a go at weaving too - the little boys either side of me were going lightening fast just to show that they were more skilled than the Obruni (local name for white person)

Fisherman mending his net in the shade - with a house being painted in the background

We caught wind of the fact that a fresh batch of fish had come in - so we went down to the river to take a look

A fisherman in his canoe, showing us his live bait

The salt beach where salt comes to the surface and is collected in the dry season - now it is flooded due to heavy rainfall.

My hands still stained with indigo

Musa showing off a hand-man smock he has woven and stitched himself: