Kente is woven mostly by the Ashanti and Ewe peoples of Ghana. A weaver sits in front of a wooden loom and uses their hands and feet to lift up different threads. The threads cross over each other in a careful order, and slowly a strip of cloth grows, sometimes only as wide as a school ruler.
Each strip can take many hours - or even days - to make. Once it is long enough, several strips are sewn side by side. A whole adult-sized cloth might have ten or more strips joined together. From far away it looks like one big patterned blanket. Up close, you can see every thread.
The colours mean something. Gold or yellow often stands for wealth and the sun. Green is for the land and growing things. Blue can mean peace. Red is for strong feelings. Black is for memory and the people who came before. Weavers choose colours the way a writer chooses words.
Each pattern also has a name. There are hundreds of named kente patterns, with names like 'Wisdom is not a sack of money' or 'Skill is needed'. Long ago, only kings and queens of the Ashanti court wore kente. Today it is worn by people of all ages on special days - weddings, graduations, festivals.