ADIRE ART WORK

Photo credit: Odu Itunu 

 By: Odu Itunu

Nigerian culture is multi-ethnic and gives a lot of value to different types of arts; which primarily include ivory carving, grass weaving, wood carving, leather and calabash, pottery, painting, glass and metal works, and cloth weaving (textile). 

Among all these forms of art, Adire, which is common among the people of Egbaland in Ogun State, is probably the most reflective of its cultural origin. Abeokuta is said to be the capital of the Egba nation, and the Adire industry in Nigeria. Although the missionaries introduced the people to cotton in the 1850’s, cotton weaving, pottery and Adire are all traditional crafts of the Abeokuta people.

What is Adire?

Adire textile is a resist-dyed cloth produced and worn primarily by the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria. The Yoruba label adire (meaning “tie and dye”) was first applied to indigo-dyed cloth decorated with resist patterns in the early twentieth century.

 By the second half of the twentieth century, broader colour palette of imported synthetic dyes was introduced. Adire then included a variety of hand-dyed textiles using wax-resist batik methods to produce patterned cloth in a dazzling array of dye tints and hues.

The Adire was first produced in Jojola’s compound of Kemta, Abeokuta by Chief Mrs. Miniya Jojolola Soetan, the second Iyalode (Head of Women) of Egba land. She then passed on the process to her children and onward to the future generations. The first Adire material was made with Teru (local white attire) and Elu (local Dye) made from elu leaf which is planted in the Saki area of Oyo state.

To be continued…

Edited by: Adebayo Nurudeen

Published by: Mondiu Sherifat