We Run a Single Country
We Run a Single Country
The Politics of Appropriation
This chapter examines ethnic, diasporic, and national identities as the basis for ownership claims of adinkra and kente. Adinkra and kente producers consider their communities, ethnic group, or the Asantehene, as the owners of these fabrics. Ethnic ownership claims become citizen ownership claims when these fabric producers offer their cloth design to Ghanaian artists. The design, however, does not become an endorsement of state ownership. Cloth-producing communities often challenge the ownership of state for their design. As citizens claim these designs as Ghanaian rather than ethnic, they confirm the legitimacy and success of the state’s ongoing project of cultural nationalism.
Keywords: national identities, adinkra, kente, Ghanaian artists, cultural nationalism
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