An African-German fashion designer, Rahmée Wetterich working in collaboration with Osuanyi Quaicoo Essel of the University of Education, Winneba, has secured a GIZ-sponsored handloom weaving project meant for youth livelihood empowerment through apprenticeship-based training in handloom weaving. It is a two-year project to train weavers in handloom weaving for entrepreneurship training and economic empowerment of weavers in Ghana. The beneficiaries of weaving training will consist of professional weavers in the Winneba community, graduate fashion and textile educators, and present students of the Department of Textiles and Fashion education of the University. The handloom weaving project idea is the brainchild of Rahmée Wetterich (noh nee), and Osuanyi Quaicoo Essel, a fashion and textile educator and historian at the University of Education, Winneba.
The project started on February 14, 2024, and ends in 2026. Designer Andreas Möller will train the participants in how to build and use the flying8 handlooms. The participants are highly indebted to Exploring Visual Culture (EVC) for linking Rahmée Wetterich and Osuanyi Quaicoo Essel at the EVC conference in Augsburg in 2022 which has yielded the fruition of this project.