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Long before the Kente Registry existed, its founder was growing up surrounded by the cloth.
In Anyako, in Ghana's Volta Region, Kente weaving was simply part of the landscape. Close to the renowned weaving centres of Agotime-Kpetoe and Agbozume, the looms, cloth and weavers were part of everyday life.
Years later, while working as a journalist, he began sitting down with weavers and hearing the stories behind the cloth. They could tell him who had taught them, where particular designs came from, what they meant and the cultural circumstances in which they were created.
But when Phillip went looking for those same stories elsewhere, he found very little. The knowledge existed. It just wasn't being recorded. This realisation became the starting point for Kente Registry.
Kente Registry is a digital cultural heritage platform being established in Western Australia to document Kente patterns, their meanings and histories, and the master weavers and communities behind them. Through Perth Landing Pad, founder Phillip Nyakpo is building the organisational foundations and local network needed to turn that vision into a lasting international resource.
More than a piece of cloth
Kente is now recognised around the world. The cloth has found its way into some of the world's most respected cultural institutions, including the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
But there's a gap between the global recognition of Kente and the visibility of the people behind it. The master weavers who created these designs and passed down the knowledge from one generation to the next aren't always documented alongside the cloth itself.
That's what the Kente Registry is trying to change. The vision is to create a permanent and authoritative record of Kente, documenting its patterns, meanings, histories, weaving traditions and, most importantly, the people and communities who have carried them forward.
Building something that can outlive its founder
Through the Perth Landing Pad program, Phillip wanted to establish more than a website or personal project. He wanted to create an organisation with the legal and governance foundations to continue long after he was no longer the person leading it.
Since joining the program, that has started to take shape. “Being part of this environment encouraged me to stop viewing the legal and structural foundations of the Registry as something to be addressed later. Instead, they became immediate priorities.” He has since finalised the Registry's constitution, appointed three directors and begun the ASIC and ABN registration processes.
For a project centred on preserving cultural heritage, that foundation matters. So does having somewhere to build it.
Having a professional base at Riff, along with a Perth CBD address and the wider Perth Landing Pad community around him, has given Phillip a sense of legitimacy. “Having a Perth CBD address and being part of an established ecosystem transformed the Kente Registry from a personal initiative into an organisation with real standing.” It has helped turn Kente Registry from a project he was building largely on his own into an organisation with a growing network around it.
That has also given him greater confidence when approaching institutions and potential partners, while providing people he can turn to as he works through the practical challenges of building something intended to last.
More than a database
As the project has developed, Phillip has also become clearer about what Kente Registry needs to be, and what it doesn't.
Kente Registry will not trade in cloth. Its purpose is to remain independent, creating a place where the knowledge, stories and people behind Kente can be documented without being tied to the sale of the product itself.
That distinction has become clearer as Phillip has explained the project to people outside the sector. The Registry is not simply about recording patterns. It is about creating a trusted record of the people, places, traditions and knowledge connected to them.
The Registry offers a way to make those stories accessible to the next generation, while keeping the people who hold that knowledge at the centre of it.
Letting the weavers tell their own stories
Perhaps the most exciting part of the Registry's work is what happens when the people behind Kente become the ones telling its story.
Recently, the team recorded an interview in Ewe with Cecilia Akpene Yevu, a blind master weaver, and subtitled it in English. “Seeing weavers tell their own stories, in their own voices, is deeply powerful,” Phillip says. “Rather than having others speak on their behalf, they become the narrators of their own history.”
It's exactly the kind of storytelling the Registry hopes to build on.
Rather than having someone else interpret a weaver's knowledge or history, the Registry can create space for them to speak in their own language and in their own voice.
For a project that began because its founder noticed how much cultural knowledge was being lost between generations, it's a powerful example of what preservation can actually look like.
What's next for Kente Registry?
There is still plenty to build.
The immediate focus is on completing the charity registration process, strengthening the organisation's foundations and continuing to grow the Registry's collection of stories and profiles.
But the ambition goes well beyond creating a digital record.
Every new weaver profile means another name documented, another story preserved and another artisan who is no longer anonymous.
Phillip wants the Registry to eventually become a resource for anyone who encounters Kente, whether that's a student researching its history, a museum looking for greater context, or a Ghanaian-Australian family wanting to reconnect with its cultural heritage. Over time, the hope is that people won't just recognise Kente for its colour and pattern, but understand the people, places and knowledge behind it.
And Perth has an important role to play in making that possible.
For Phillip, establishing the Registry here is not about moving the story of Kente away from Ghana. It is about creating another place from which that story can be shared, connected and carried forward.
Kente may have travelled far beyond the communities where it was first woven. Phillip's goal is to make sure the stories and people behind it travel with it, too. To learn more Kente Registry you can visit their website here or connect with Phillip via LinkedIn here.
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