A technical and social study of adìrẹ, Yoruba indigo resist-dyed cloth, covering the resist techniques and their makers, indigo chemistry, named designs, the regional schools of Abẹ́òkúta, Ìbàdàn and Òṣogbo, and the twentieth-century revival led by Nike Davies-Okundaye and the contemporary market.
Machine na im translate dis page and no person don check am. The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, the meanings and the citations dey exactly as the original. Everything else fit wrong.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Adìrẹ na Yoruba resist-dyed cloth wey get indigo pattern, wey na almost entirely women dey make am, where dem dey protect part of the cotton cloth surface from the dye bath so dat pattern go come out as undyed white or pale blue against deep indigo background. The sibling file arts-textiles (corpus/07-arts/05-textiles.md) cover adìrẹ for the arts-and-craft level: the three resist techniques in outline, the named patterns Olókun, Ìbàdàn dùn, Sùnbẹ̀bẹ̀ and Jubilee, indigo chemistry with vat-charge figures, the alàdìrẹ/alaró division of labour, Judith Byfield The Bluest Hands, and the 1937-39 collapse [arts-textiles]. Dis file no repeat dat ground. Wetin follow dey go deeper into the regional schools beyond Abẹ́òkúta, the makers and institutions wey carry the craft pass through im twentieth-century decline enter inside im current revival, and the contemporary adìrẹ market.
Abẹ́òkúta na the commercial and export capital of adìrẹ's, wey dem build on top how Ẹ̀gbá women get access to imported cotton shirting and organise around the Ìtókù market hub, as arts-textiles explain in detail [arts-textiles]. Ìbàdàn and Òṣogbo develop alongside am as distinct schools with dia own character, and the difference between the three na difference for wetin each city specialise to produce.
Ìbàdàn build im reputation on top freehand adìrẹ elékọ drawing instead of stencil production or export volume. Compounds of master female artists work without stencils, dey draw designs directly on top the cloth with feather quill or split calabash rib, and the elaborate compositional patterns wey dem link with the city, especially Ìbàdàn dùn, dem credit dem to dis freehand tradition . Complex freehand adìrẹ elékọ designs continue to dey produced for Ìbàdàn enter early 1970s, after the industry commercial peak don already pass .
Òṣogbo develop differently again, because im indigo dyeing join hand from the start with the town status as the seat of the Ọ̀ṣun river cult, wey im annual festival and riverside grove still remain the town defining institution . From late 1950s enter the 1960s, Òṣogbo become the site of a broader modernist art movement, wey start from the Mbari Mbayo club wey the playwright Duro Ladipo open for im papa house for March 1962 with the support of Ulli Beier, wey be teacher for University of Ibadan dat time . The club run informal workshops wey bring in young Yoruba artists wey many of dem no go school, come pair dem with visiting expatriate figures, and the work wey come out from dia, for painting, printmaking and textile art together, na wetin dem know as the Òṣogbo art movement or the Òṣogbo school . Adìrẹ and batik dey part of dat wider workshop culture instead of to be separate track, and na through dis direct way Òṣogbo take produce the artists wey go carry indigo resist work enter gallery and international contexts for the decades wey follow.
The Austrian-born artist Susanne Wenger (1915 to 2009) na the central expatriate figure for dat Òṣogbo story. She reach Nigeria for early 1950s, dem initiate am into the cults of Ọ̀bàtálá, Ṣọ̀npọ̀nná and the Ògbóni society, and she take the title Àdùnní Olórìṣà . She become guardian of the Ọ̀ṣun sacred grove on top the Ọ̀ṣun river for Òṣogbo, found one art movement inside the grove wey dem know as New Sacred Art, and marry the drummer Chief Ṣàngówemi Àrànṣàn Aríráyé (wey dem know as Chief Alárápẹ̀) . Her efforts dey central to make dem declare the grove as national monument for 1965, status wey later lead to UNESCO World Heritage status for the Ọ̀ṣun-Òṣogbo Sacred Grove . Wenger and her household adopt and train pass twelve Yoruba children as part of the grove community, and young Nike Davies-Okundaye dey among dem .
The single most important figure for the late twentieth-century revival of adìrẹ's na Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye, wey dem born on 23 May 1951 for Ògìdì (Ògìdì-Ìjùmú) for wetin be Kogi State today . She describe herself as fifth-generation textile artist: her family include weavers, adìrẹ makers, indigo dyers and leatherworkers, and na her great-grandmother wey dey work cloth partly train am . She come Òṣogbo as teenager and enter the environment of the Òṣogbo art movement, dey work alongside Wenger household and the wider circle of artists wey the Mbari Mbayo workshops produce .
For 1983 she open her first Nike Centre for Art and Culture for Òṣogbo. Since dat time she don open more centres, including branches wey dey connected with Ògìdì, Abuja, and Lagos, with the last one holding wetin dem describe as one of the largest collections of Nigerian contemporary art on public display for Lagos . The centres dey offer free training for adìrẹ dyeing, batik, weaving and related crafts, mainly to young women, and her stated project na to move adìrẹ from ordinary craft commodity back toward recognition as fine art . People know am well well as Mama Nike for dis role of training one generation of dyers and artists.
The route wey Adìrẹ's follow take get wide visibility again since the 1980s pass through two channels beyond the Nike centres: international fashion, and organised local commerce.
For fashion side, di designer wey dey based for Lagos Amaka Osakwe start di label Maki Oh for 2010 and e build di identity around hand-executed adìrẹ elékọ and oda indigenous Nigerian textile techniques wey dem put inside contemporary Western silhouettes . Di label international profile rise well-well afta Michelle Obama, wey be First Lady of the United States dat time, wear Maki Oh cloth during one official visit go Johannesburg for 2013, and lata invite Osakwe to one White House design event; Lupita Nyong'o, Solange Knowles, and Issa Rae dey among di oda public figures wey don wear di label . Na di same way arts-textiles take note am for overview [arts-textiles]; di point wey dey to add here na say di way Maki Oh take use adìrẹ, di designer present am say na deliberate act to preserve technique, no be decoration, since dem keep di hand-painted starch resist instead of to replace am with printed imitation.
For commercial and civic side, Bamidele Abiodun, First Lady of Ogun State, launch Adire Market Week for 2022 to promote di cloth and support local Abẹ́òkúta manufacture, na initiative wey arts-textiles also record [arts-textiles]. Ìtókù market for Abẹ́òkúta still remain di historic center of di trade and e dey continue to function as live production and retail hub for adìrẹ, wey dey stay alongside di newer institutional and gallery routes to market wey di Nike centres and di fashion houses dey represent.
The two Yoruba loom traditions and who works them, the named prestige cloths, the full range of adire resist-dyeing and the indigo behind it, the industry's collapse in the 1930s and its revival, and why everyone at a Nigerian wedding is dressed alike.
How Yorùbá men's and women's garments combine into a complete ensemble, and how the resulting silhouette communicates character, status, and occasion.
A technical study of aṣọ òkè, the Yoruba narrow-strip prestige cloth, covering the ọfì loom's parts and mechanics, dye and fiber chemistry, structural weaving techniques, and the named regional centers that produce it.
An examination of contemporary Yoruba textile production, tracing artisanal weaving in Iseyin and Oyo, resist-dyeing in Abeokuta and Osogbo, import competition, and modern design revivals.
A comprehensive scholarly reference on adìrẹ eléko, the Yorùbá cassava-starch resist dyeing technique, covering its materials, chemistry, named master patterns, historical development, documented artists, museum collections, and archival debates.
Technical processes, material substrates, gender dynamics, and museum histories of Yoruba raffia-tied and needle-stitched indigo resist textiles.