Rewoven: Revitalising Weaving Traditions through Intervention, Innovation, and Collaboration
Nubuke Foundation announces a new one-year grant programme supporting weaving communities and visually impaired youth in Ghana’s Upper West Region, with support from the Direct Programme Grant of the Government of Australia.
Nubuke Foundation is pleased to announce Rewoven, a new programme dedicated to strengthening the long-term capacity of women’s weaving associations and expanding vocational opportunities for visually impaired youth in Ghana’s Upper West Region. Over the next nine months, Rewoven will bring together women weavers, young people, artists, and designers in a shared effort to safeguard a centuries-old craft tradition while opening new pathways to economic independence.
Who Is Involved
Twenty master weavers from three associations in Wa, Nadowli and Nandom will take part in structured enterprise training designed to sharpen their technical, entrepreneurial, and design skills. Alongside them, a group of visually impaired youth in the Wa Municipality, selected in partnership with the Wa Methodist School for the Blind, will receive hands-on weaving mentorship as part of a dedicated vocational track. Building the enterprise capacity of women, youth, and persons with disabilities is essential to preserving handwoven textile traditions and advancing sustainable economic opportunities in the Upper West Region.
What the Programme Will Deliver
Weaver Training: Following a memorandum of understanding with participating associations and a census of weavers, twenty participants have been selected for an extended training programme combining a dedicated workbook with hands-on instruction, equipping them to grow their craft into sustainable enterprise.
Inclusive Vocational Training: In partnership with the Wa Methodist School for the Blind, selected graduates will enter a weaving mentorship track, opening a new vocational pathway for visually impaired youth in the region.
Artist–Artisan Collaboration: An artist residency will pair a selected artist directly with the weaving associations, fostering an exchange of ideas that pushes traditional techniques toward new design possibilities.
Publication: A photographic and biographical profile of the programme’s participants drawn from interviews and portraits captured throughout the year will be developed into a printed publication documenting their craft, their stories, and their contribution to the region’s weaving tradition.
Market Access: Rewoven will strengthen participants’ access to markets, including an updated Nubuke Foundation website, participation in the Woori craft platform, and expanded stocking of woven goods through Nubuke’s Accra shop.
Building on a Decade of Work
Rewoven builds on several intervention programmes established and run by Nubuke Foundation and other stakeholders in the Upper West Region over the past decade. This new support from the Government of Australia’s Direct Programme Grant allows that work to continue and deepen, reaching more weavers, more young people, and more communities across the region.
This welcome support will enable Nubuke Foundation to continue delivering impactful programmes to communities in the Upper West Region over the next nine months.