COVID-19 and the creation of Kwasi Asare’s online Kente weaving course
UPDATE: Unfortunately, CourseCraft is shutting down in April 2022. We are working on creating a new alternative for Kwasi’s unique online weaving course. We will either use another online platform or use a YouTube channel with private lessons. Please contact Kwasi directly at kwasister@gmail.com or (202) 569-5153 for more information.
This past year has been hard on all of us. We’ve drastically changed our lifestyles and habits as our jobs and lives have been uprooted; we’ve learned to wear masks in public and to practice social distancing. We’ve been going crazy from being confined to our homes, and we’ve also worried about getting sick or possibly seeing loved ones being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19. Many of us have been forced to make important life changes, ranging from working at home or online, to finding alternative childcare arrangements to taking on new responsibilities for home schooling.
Naturally, this has also been a challenging time for Kwasi Asare as well. At the beginning of 2020 Kwasi had plans to conduct various Kente weaving workshops for adults and children across the country at a number of schools, churches and nonprofit organizations. But COVID-19 changed everything! As organizations and institutions began to shut down, like almost everyone else, Kwasi spent long months in quarantine, with wondering about the potential long-term impact of the pandemic on the economy and his livelihood.
A light at the end of the tunnel
After a careful reevaluation, Kwasi began to see the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to expand his reach to a broader audience by developing an online Kente cloth weaving course. Hence, we are pleased to announce that Kwasi is offering a special – the FIRST OF ITS KIND – online Kente weaving course! At $25 for the course and $50 for the loom – a total of $75 – Kwasi has intended to make this Kente cloth weaving course affordable for everyone.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, CourseCraft is shutting down in April 2022. We are working on creating a new alternative for Kwasi’s unique online weaving course. We will either use another online platform or use a YouTube channel with private lessons. Please contact Kwasi directly at kwasister@gmail.com or (202) 569-5153 for more information.
Why take an online Kente cloth weaving course?
Kente weaving is a wonderful creative pastime, especially for people who are spending more time at home due to the pandemic. Working with a Kente weaving loom provides a break from constant hum and buzz of computers and the incessant online chatter of news and social media. It can alleviate some of the anxieties and worries of work as well as social and emotional frustrations. Learning to weave Kente is a mind-body/hand-eye activity that allows one to become completely absorbed in a beautiful, Zen-like harmonious state, at one with the present moment. The process of creating one’s own designs and forming Kente cloth step-by-step is tremendously rewarding. There is also a great satisfaction that comes from working with one’s hands – the final product is a piece of Kente cloth that can be used as bookmark or a choker necklace or wrist bracelet or decoration that can be given as a gift or kept for personal use.
Lesson 1 Video: Parts of the Loom and Creating the Warp
Lesson 2 Video: Plain Weaving
Lesson 3 Video: Double Shuttle Design
Lesson 4 Video: Steps Design (Obi nkye obi kwan mu si)
Lesson 5 Video: Mixed Colors Design
Lesson 6 Video: Removing Your Work from the Loom
Lesson 7 Video: Cross Design Using 3 Shuttles
Share the Kente weaving course and culture with your family and friends
Not only is Kente weaving a great avenue for creativity and peace of mind, it’s a wonderful activity to share with friends! Kwasi’s Kente weaving course makes a great gift for children and adults of all ages. Working with Kente looms can be more fun if you are sharing it with your husband or wife, or boyfriend or girlfriend, your children or a younger sister or brother. Kente weaving can be fun with friends and college roommates; it’s an activity that makes for a pleasant change of pace or a comfortable mental health break. This kind of artistic work with your hands is a great stress reliever; it’s a wonderful way to wind down for the evening and take your mind off of the pressures of the world.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, CourseCraft is shutting down in April 2022. We are working on creating a new alternative for Kwasi’s unique online weaving course. We will either use another online platform or use a YouTube channel with private lessons. Please contact Kwasi directly at kwasister@gmail.com or (202) 569-5153 for more information.
Kwasi Asare: Master Kente Weaver, Mathematician, African Sage & Teacher 