Nigerian Batik: Little Weavers

We, Nigerians, have always been very fond of dressing up. Thanks to the rich cultural past of Batik looking good has never been difficult.

The reviving of traditional methods of weaving and dying in Nigeria, particularly the art of making adire, brought back the vibrant past of Nigeria to the International Fashion Stage. Adire is a colorful dyed cloth found throughout Africa. The best known and most valuable, adire, is a deep blue cloth made by the Yoruba of Nigeria. The design is created by a process called resist dying, which prevents dye from being absorbed by some parts of the cloth.

There are two very important people trying to keep this art alive. First, Nike Davies Okundaye, Nigeria’s most famous fabric artist, runs her art centers to teach resist dye techniques of making Nigerian batik. 

Second, Sangodare, who has exhibited his batiks all over the world, both with his mother Susanne Wenger, and in solo exhibitions.  Exhibitions have been held in Nigeria, Austria, Germany, the UK, France, Germany, the USA, Brazil and Cuba.  In 2010, Sangodare won Nigeria’s prestigious National Art Competition Golden Jubilee Award.

Clothes at Little Weavers are these essentially “Nigerian” batik prints that combine artistic expression with cultural designs that have specific meanings.

It is said that Nigerian Batik skills are the most developed resist-dyeing skills. The Yoruba make adire cloths using two important methods of resist. The first one being adire eleso which involves tied and stitched and adire eleko that uses starch paste. There are different types of resist dying methods used to create adire cloth designs. Oniko is a method of tying patterns into the cloth. Eleko designs are stencilled or painted onto the cloth with starch (usually from cassava or yam).

While another method, called Alabere, uses raffia to stitch designs into the fabric. Once the designs are complete, the white cloth is then dipped into a deep blue dye. When dry, the fabric is untied, or the starch and stitches are removed, to reveal a beautiful design.

Another very popular pattern or fabric of clothing is Kente. It has become a symbol of Africa outside of the continent. Kente cloth used to be known as the “cloth of kings.” It is a traditional and distinctive type of cloth woven of strips and checks. You will find glimpses of these patterns, fabrics and art at Little Weavers.

It was said that the “Nigerian- batik” designs are like a “sign” – when you wear them, the designs signify your village of origin. Today, we have come a long way from there and the designs at little weavers represent your rich cultural past and the right values for the kids.

It is also known that the skills of Nigerian Batik are passed from generations to generation for instance from mother to child as inheritance. Little Weavers is just one of those mediums to pass on this inheritance to the future of the country. 

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