The art of fabric nameology in the Ghanaian culture

Abstract

Ghanaians have various fabrics which are associated with their culture. One such fabric is the Ghanaian wax prints. These fabric prints have unique designs and motifs made in beautiful colours. Some of these prints have names, which are identified by the people, and significantly valuable in the Ghanaian culture. Many works have been done on textile products but a missing part is the nameology of Ghanaian fabric prints. The study sought to find out how naming of fabrics is done. Categories of people were interviewed to seek their great contributions to such unique fabric names on the Ghanaian fabric market. The population of the study consisted of consumers/users of the fabric prints, fabric retailers, textile manufacturers and sales personnel in Greater Accra Region. For the purpose of this study, respondents were selected from three textile companies in Ghana which included Ghana Tex Styles, Akosombo Textiles Limited and Printex. The sampling technique was the purposive sampling. The sampled group of people were interviewed using an interview guide. The study revealed that fabric names are inspired by adinkra motifs, Ghanaian proverbs, names suggested by customers and fabric retailers. Also the fabric prints are classified under classical and contemporary, the prints have symbolical meanings and the effects of fabric names on the culture of Ghanaian. The study concludes that the naming practice of fabrics is a unique culture and since culture needs to be preserved, one such way is the practice of naming Ghanaian fabric prints. It recommended that people should be knowledgeable about fabric names before purchasing any fabric type. The fabric designers should study the trends of naming fabrics and also in culprit the orderly presentation of classical print designs into the contemporary fabric prints to sustain the naming culture. Fabric names have negative and positive effects so care should be taken into consideration when buying and using fabrics with names.