Traditionally limited to the burgundy, green and apricot of the Asante royal court, the colors of Kente cloth today can have a hallucinatory intensity. Designs range from an all-over grid pattern in yellow, orange, blue and white to one that alternates blocks of reds and greens with panels of black with white stripes. Richly somber funerary mourning cloths have restrained patterns of black and red. Kente patterns are subtle and complex, and suggest jazz, abstract art and quilts. What is vital to know is the meanings that are associated with the colors, like Black with Maturity, Blue with Love and Peace and Green with Harvest, Health, and Rejuvenation.
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