NewzGhanaian weaver Alice Banaaza showcased traditional Fugu weaving at the 2026 Chocolate Has a Name Festival in Halifax, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The event, themed The Untutored Mind: A Thing of Beauty, opened on 27th August 2026, with the exhibition and live weaving experience continuing through 31st August 2026. Live weaving demonstrations took place at specific times throughout the exhibition, while further engagements were held from 2nd to 6th September 2026.
At the heart of the exhibition was an opportunity to encounter textile knowledge not simply as something preserved behind glass, but as a living practice. The Alice Banaaza effect Alice Banaaza, an Indigenous Ghanaian weaver, presented live demonstrations of traditional Fugu weaving, sharing the processes, techniques and knowledge through which this distinctive northern Ghanaian textile tradition continues across generations. She started her weaving exercise on 9th September 2026 at the Kokoo Museum in Halifax.
Audiences were able to witness cloth emerging on the loom: the relationship between hand, thread, rhythm, pattern, memory and accumulated knowledge. Alice’s presence highlighted the issue of what happens when the living knowledge of the maker enters into conversation with the object in the collection. Her demonstrations were accompanied by artist conversations, workshops, public talks, educational sessions and encounters with historic African textiles held within host institutions.
Fugu as Ghana’s cultural treasure Fugu is a traditional handwoven textile associated particularly with northern Ghana, especially communities in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions. It is made by weaving narrow strips of cotton fabric on a traditional loom and then joining the strips together to form a larger cloth. Fugu is commonly worn as smocks, shirts, dresses and other garments.
The textile has gained renewed national attention in Ghana in 2026 following President John Dramani Mahama’s state visit to Zambia in February, when his Fugu became the subject of social media banter between some Zambian and Ghanaian users. The discussion ultimately generated a strong Ghanaian defence of the garment. During the visit, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema acknowledged the beauty of the Fugu and said he would order some from Ghana.
Subsequently, Ghana’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts dec…
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