This video is from a special workshop that Kwasi Asare presented for the Arts Facet of Old Dominion Virginia Chapter, the Links, at a Washington, D.C. Boys & Girls Club. The workshop was part of a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) program developed by the Links organization. This kind of workshop is particularly valuable for students and youth groups, because they learn a process that combines art and mathematics while also learning about Africa and the Kente weaving tradition.
The workshops are participatory and hands-on – the students react with amazement as they learn how to make their own Kente cloth project. You can see the joy in their faces – the response to these projects is always overwhelmingly positive! In an age when kids spend so much time in front of digital computer screens, a hands-on experience like this can touch a child’s imagination in a powerful and wonderful way. It can be particularly meaningful for African-American children as Africa and its cultural traditions are more of an abstraction than something tangible that they can see, touch and feel. Each child takes their own Kente cloth bookmark home as part of the workshop.
Please contact us if you would like to organize a workshop for a school, church or community organization. Kwasi Asare would love to work with you to bring this unique cultural experience to more and more people!
Kwasi Asare: Master Kente Weaver, Mathematician, African Sage & Teacher 