They were the great gold diggers of the 17th century. Ghana’s Akan Tribe’s influence reverberated far and wide within West Africa as they dug their nose deep into the gold trade, given the richness of its reserves in the Akan region from coastal areas of Ghana to the southern shores of the Ivory Coast. Needless to say, they understood metal well. Centuries later, this meta-ethnicity that was known for its astuteness and aesthetic for gold, is being remembered for its distinct tribal motifs such as turtles, crocodiles, dolls, vases, pots, masks and others, once again, by being incorporated in a new line of jewellery called Ghana Ghana.
Each piece is designed to uphold fashion designer Masaba Gupta’s signature styles and influences from her ethnicity and experience in the industry all these years. There are 200 hand beaten jewellery designs with patterned palms, cameras, cows, candies and more.
Each design comes with a rusticity that gives it a roughness characteristic to the time this jewellery originated in. The ornamentation comes in the form of gold-plated and silver multi-layered necklaces, eccentric tasselled earrings, and small round studs and rings.
This is the first time that the designer has worked on a jewellery line. “I have lived through the brand Amrapali Jaipur since my childhood along with my mother. I had faith in it as Tribe perfectly fits my brand essence and I personally love the idea of it creating a visual repository of traditional sub-cultural aesthetics through its jewellery,” says Gupta, who believes the key merit of the collection is its versatility. The design portfolio is such that it doesn’t limit itself to one wearable format. In fact, the designer feels these will make quite a statement if worn with swimwear.
The price point starts at `500 and each piece narrates lore that upholds Akan tribal art with its gender-specific sculptured jewellery. “Tribe Amrapali strikes a perfect balance with Masaba’s modern and high fashion clothing and our love for strong tribal style, especially the African sub-cultures, made this collection inevitable. It has gone through multiple samplings to achieve the desired features. With zero machine support in all the operations including jaali work, repousse (engraving), oxidisation, wire work, and beadwork; we have been able to realise the collection that reflects the natural element and embraces African heritage inexactitude,” says Akanksha Arora, Creative Director of Tribe Amrapali. We wish them ‘gold luck’ with it.
Availability: All Tribe Amrapali, Masaba stores and Tribebyamrapali.com