Making of Adinkra
CALABASH STAMPS: The inside of a dry, thick-skinned calabash is covered with shea butter for a year to slightly soften it. Then Paul Nyamaah Boakye (telephone: 024345516 and 0243167605) cuts off a piece with a knife, scrapes the outer skin with a knife, draws the pattern onto it with a pencil, then carves away the negative space with a gouge. Paul carves more than 70 different symbols, each of which represents a proverb, belief, or philosophy.
ADINKRA CLOTH PRINTING: Wooden planks resting on blocks were covered with a 1" thick piece of foam rubber. Several symbols (which have specific meanings) were chosen from an Adinkra chart, then Gabriel Boayke selected the stamps and Anthony Boakye decided their placement on the cloth. After the starched shedder cotton fabric (with a luster finish) was folded and laid on the foam rubber, small nails were driven through the edges of the cloth with a rock. Rocks were also placed along the edges of the cloth to keep it in place. A comb (whose tangs were wrapped with nylon cord to help pick up the colorant) was dipped into the adinra duro, then pulled across the cloth freehand to delineate the sections to be printed. Although it requires practice and concentration, expert printers are able to talk on a cell phone and converse with onlookers while printing.
Following tradition, Anthony filled each section with the same design. Before the section was actually printed, he figured out the placement by dry stamping over the cloth. The stamp was then dipped into the adinkra duro and then the excess was shaken off before bringing the stamp to the cloth.
One edge of the loaded curved stamp was placed onto the cloth, it was rocked across to the other edge, then it was lifted and dipped into the colorant once again to repeat the procedure.
Although most cloths are machine sewn, some are seamed together with closely placed decorative stitches (forming what textile historians call a randa). The fabrics pictured here (some already industrially-printed) were made with machine woven cloth. Hand woven cloth was used in the past. The edges of the cloth were folded, then sewn to a small piece of heavier cloth to allow the lengths to be stretched taut as they were embroidered with colorful rayon.
Nana Yaw Boakye and his son, Gabriel, worked on this cloth together as Gabriel's son observed. This is how many people learn their craft; they are exposed to it at an early age, carefully observing every step until they are allowed to help.
Black cloth dye is prepared by soaking Kuntunkuni (Bobax brevicuspe) bark and roots in a 50 gallon drum of water for a few days, then boiling them over a wood fire, then beating the bark with a pipe, then boiling them again until the liquid is very black.
ADINKRA ADURO MEDIUM: To make adinkra aduro medium (colorant), the bark and roots of the Badie (Adansonia digitata) tree are harvested, the outer layer is cut away, then the inner bark is broken into pieces and soaked in water for 24 hours. It is then pounded for about 3 hours in a wooden mortar, boiled for several hours in water over a wood fire, strained through a plastic window screen, then boiled for 4 more hours. 
Black cloth dye is prepared by soaking Kuntunkuni (Bobax brevicuspe) bark and roots in a 50 gallon drum of water for a few days, then boiling them over a wood fire, then beating the bark with a pipe, then boiling them again until the liquid is very black. 