ABËTËI TO RUB SHOULDERS WITH ADINKRA

Ishmael Annobil, the creator of Abëtëi, is to collaborate with Gadangme textile artists and sculptors to create ceremonial Abëtëi textiles and stools akin to the world-renowned Ashanti Adinkra. The textile pieces will be called Abete Boi (or Abëtë bo, singular) 

Annobil will spend most of January 2022 in Accra, the capital of Ghana, setting up the foundations of his new-born traditional form, including an institute to carry on the creation, curating and promotion of Abëtëi internationally.

“It is important to let Abëtëi play its dual roles of social and ceremonial art, on behalf of the Gadangme people. That is the way of African art; there is always a functional aspect,” said Annobil from his London studio, recently.

It is anticipated that the collaboration will produce works across the entire traditional gamut, including textile pieces for ceremony as well as commemoration, and wooden stools reflecting a Gadangme aesthetic that Annobil hopes to forge, in the same way he ‘conjured’ the Abëtëi emblems. 

The foundational pieces will be exhibited in Accra as part of a formal ceremony to dedicate Abëtëi to the Gadangme nation. This will entail an historical durbar of Gadangme rulers, and a procession of prominent artists, diplomats and politicians, replete with ritual, incantation and drum oratorios.


Photo Credit: Traditional Adinkra cloth, © Samata (samatahome.com)