West African Wisdom: Adinkra Symbols & Meanings

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Not all valuable information is available on the internet. Dr. Kwaku Ofori-Ansa, author of Meanings of Symbols in Adinkra Cloth, made me keenly aware of this recently, pointing out that this site does not acknowledge much of the important scholarship in the study of adinkra symbols. To rectify this oversight, Dr. Ofori-Ansa recommended the bibliography from The Adinkra Dictionary by W. Bruce Willis (The Pyramid Complex, 1998), pp. 297-98. (Read Dr. Ofori-Ansa's letter on the relationship between Sankofa and adinkra scholarship.)

I have searched for all these adinkra-related titles below on Amazon.com. Most were not available. I suggest checking with your library to find out whether some of these titles are available through interlibrary loan. The few listed in Amazon.com are linked. New and used copies are available on an irregular basis--click the link to see what's currently available.

If you know other books that should be included in this bibliography, please let us know.

Arthur, G. F. Kojo, Cloth As Metaphor: (Re)reading the adinkra cloth symbols of the Akan of Ghana. Accra: Cefiks Publications, 2001. (Available directly from the Akan Cultural Symbols Project.)

Baker, Patricia J., African Art: Adinkra Cloth - An Instructional Unit for Seven-Ninth Grade Art. Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois - Urbana - Champaign, African Studies Program, 1979.

Birmingham, Walter, Neustadt, J. and Omaboe, E.n., eds. A Study of Contemporary Ghana, Vol. 1. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1967.

Christian, Angela. Adinkra Oration. Accra: Catholic Book Centre, 1976.

Christian, Angela. Facets of Ghanaian Culture. Heidelberg: Books on Africa Studies, 1984.

Cole, Herbert M. and Doran H. Ross. The Arts of Ghana (Exhibition guide). Los Angeles Museum of Cultural History, University of California, 1977.

Glover, E. Ablade. Chart: Adinkra Symbolism. Accra: Liberty Press Ltd., 1971.

Glover, E. Ablade, & Mark Kwami. Symbolic Language of the Ashanti - Adinkra (Symbolspracher der Ashanti). Berlin: Haus der Kulturen der Welt, 1993.

Kayper-Mensah, Albert W. Sankofa: Adinkra Poems. Tema: Ghana Publishing., 1978

Kerina, Jane. African Crafts. New York: The Lion Press, 1970.

Mato, Daniel. Clothed in Symbol: The Art of Adinkra among the Akan of Ghana. Diss. University of Indiana, 1987, Ann Arbor: University Microfilm International, 1987, (#8717807).

Menzel, Brigitten. Textilien Aus Westafrika II. Berlin: Museum Fur Volkerkunde Berlin, 1972.

Museum voor Land-en Volkenkunde. Een Adinkra - doek van de Goudkust in het Museumvoor Land-en Volkenkunde Rotterdam. Rotterdam: Gemeenteo Drukkerij, 1954.

Newman, Thelma, R. Contemporary African Arts and Crafts. New York: Crown Publishers, 1974.

Ofori-Ansa, Kwaku. Chart: Symbols of Adinkra Cloth - African Symbolism. Hyattsville, Md.: Sankofa Publications, 1978.

Ofori-Ansa, Kwaku. Chart: Meanings of Symbols in Adinkra Cloth. Hyattsville, Md.: Sankofa Publications, 1993.

Owusu-Ansah, J.V. New Variations of the Traditional Motifs. Kumase: Degraft Graphics and Publications, 1992.

Paulme, Denise. African Scullpture. New York: Viking Press, 1962.

Picton, John and John Mack. African Textiles. Hong Kong: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1987.

Polakoff, Claire. Into Indigo: African Textiles and Dyeing Techniques. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 1980.

Polakoff, Claire. African Textiles and Dyeing Techniques. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.

Quarcoo, Alfed Kofi. The Language of Adinkra Patterns. Legon: University of Ghana, 1972.

Rattray, Robert S. Religion and Art in Ashanti. London: Oxford University Press, 1927.

Walker, Abena. Our Favorite African Adinkra Symbols: A Coloring Book, D.C.: African Learning Centre, 1990.