| Gilbert
Bobbo
A luminous kente cloth wall hanging serves as a focal point at
the Alma Powell Branch Library. Commissioned especially for Powell,
colors and shapes from the hanging echo throughout the library –
in architect David Milling’s whimsical design and in artist
Michael Hayden’s
treatment of the barrel-vaulted skylight.
Etsey Kwashia Gilbert Bobbo Ahiagble – or Gilbert Bobbo,
for short – created this exquisite work on his rustic wodden
loom at his home in Agbozume, Ghana. A master weaver descended from
generations of kente weavers, Bobbo weaves, then sews together,
narrow strips of brilliant color in jazz-like rhythms.
After absorbing weaving at his father’s knee, Bobbo also
trained formally as a teacher. Since 1975, he has visited North
America more than 15 times, teaching the weaving traditions of the
Ewe tribe. When possible, Bobbo likes to hold his classes out of
doors, weaving the way it is done in Africa.
Sources: Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot
Winter 95/96 Vol. XXVII No. 1 Issue 105
“Bobbo: Kente Cloth’s Roving Ambassador,”
by Verna Suit, pp. 40-42
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