Bonwire is a town in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, where the most popular cloth in Africa, popularly known as "Kente", originated. The Kente is worn by the king of the
Ashanti Kingdom in Ghana. Bonwire is part of
Ejisu-Juaben Municipal district
Ejisu-Juaben Municipal District is a former district that was located in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly on 10 March 1989 when it was known as Ejisu-Juaben District which was created from the form ...
within Ghana's
Ashanti Region
The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the mo ...
.
The town is located about 18 km on the Kumasi-Mampong road.
History
Bonwire is the home of the famous Akan
Kente cloth
Kente ( ak, kente or ''nwetoma''; ee, kete; Dagbani: Chinchini) refers to a Ghanaian textile, made of handwoven cloth, strips of silk and cotton. Historically the fabric was worn in a toga-like fashion by royalty among ethnic groups such as the ...
.
According to history, two friends from the town learnt how to weave by watching how a spider spun its web. The two brothers by name Kuragu and Ameyaw in around the middle of the 17th century were hunters by profession. They studied the spider's way and manner weaving its nest in the forest. After they did some experiments, they brought up with a type of fabric commonly known in the Asante-Twi as "Nwin-Ntom" meaning Woven-cloth in the English Language. They showed their discovery to the chief of Bonwire at that time called Nana Bobie Ansah. He accompanied them to Kumasi to show their invention to the King of the Ashanti Otumfuo Opemso Osei Tutu I. The King was interested by this discovery and adopted it as a royal art. "Gagamuga" was the first cloth that was made. Years later, the two brothers improved the form of their discovery. This new form had the looks of the surface of a basket locally known as "Kenten". The people of the town called the new design, (Kenten-Nwin-Ntoma), a woven-basket-cloth. It was later corrupted to Kente. The new King of the Asantes called Otumfuo Okatakyie Opoku Ware created a Kente-stool for the two brothers after they reported the improved design to him in 1721.
Kente Museum
In October 2020, the vice president of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia cut the sod for the commencement of construction of the Bonwire Kente Museum. This was to facilitate the mass production of kente for export and as an avenue for job creation.
Education
Bonwire is also known for the Bonwire Secondary Technical School.
The school is a
second cycle
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...
institution.
References
External links
{{Commons category
Ashanti Region - Touring Ghana
Populated places in the Ashanti Region