Akwete head wrapper

c. 1960s

Akwete head wrapper, c. 1960s. Igbo-style weaver, Nigeria. Cotton; plain weave with supplementary weft floats; overall: 223.5 x 81.3 cm (88 x 32 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Donated by Richard Little from his experience at Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro, Nigeria, 1965–67 2022.22 Donated by Richard Little from his experience at Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro, Nigeria, 1965–67 This head wrapper is a complex example of cloth unique to the southeastern town of Akwete. Learning from a young age, women there weave part-time on a horizontal loom. Weavers add extra weft (horizontal) threads to create patterns and designs. Abstracted motifs (like the zig-zags, "combs," and stars here) make reference to families or societal roles, as well as objects, and historical events. A fashionable young woman in the 1960s may have paired this head wrapper with a blouse and miniskirt.