UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY An Exhibition ot the Museum fur Votkerkunde Wien-Kunsthistorisches Museum and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Nigeria With the Support of the Austrian Embroidery Industry
Edited bv
Barbara Plankenstelner and Nath Mayo Adediran
A History of Trade, Creativity and Fashion in Nigeria
Museum fur Votkerkunde Wien 22 October 2010 to U February 2011
National Museum Lagos 2! March to 17 JuneUNIVERSITY 2011 OF IBADAN LIBRARY National Museum Ibadan 27 July to 30 October 2011 Catalogue tenders
Cover Illustration; Illustration 6 on pages Editorial Coordination; HSchst, Oswald Brunner Chief (Mrs) Modupe 16 and 17: Barbara bankersteiner Lagos, Centre for Black and A. Dbebe, 1979. Lady's suit, detail. Julia Bimer African Arts and Civilization C clo ured BW photogi aph Nigeria, c. 1975 ICBAAC), Nigeria from the invitation card for Museum fur Volkni kunde Lagos. National Museum, Photo Editing; her titletaking ceremony. Wien, inv. No. 187 358 a, b National Commission for © Oswald Brunner Barbara Rankensteiner Museums and Monuments Julia Bimer Illustration 251 on pages Nigeria Marianne He-rgovich Back-cover Illustration; 23* and 235: London, British Museum Sequin embroidery Net embroidery textile. Lustenau. Oskar Hammerte HDH HoferHecht Hammerle & Sehtbach ■ Editing; company Embroideries. Lustenau. company. Lustenau Elisabeth Herrmann Lustenau, HK6 Embroideries 2010 Julene Knox Lustenau. R. Riedesser Allovcr embroidery on cotton Object Photographs, Vienna, Hem? Hundertpfund voile. Albert Bosch company. © KHM mit MVK urid OTM Translations: Vienna, Birgit Mutter Lustenau, 2010 Photographic Supervision Elizabeth Mortimer Vienna, Museum fur Stefan Zcister Marian Pink Volkerkunde Photos; Andrew Smith Illustration 5 on page 2: Vienna, dsterreichisches J D. Qkhai Qjeikere, Alexander Rnsoh Joshua Stein Museum tilr Votkskunde Adegorpye's wedding. Picture Editing Vienna, Giinter A. Richter Lagos, 1964 Thomas Ritter Publisher Vienna, Theater in der Bnoeck Publishers, Rortan Payer josefstadl Illustrat or: 2 on pages Rudy Vercruysse, Ghent Thomas Ritter Vienna. Volkstheater B and 9- Flcrisn Payer Graphic Design Adolphus Opara. Wedding of Sands Antic Thomas Soete, Ghent Tola Olateru Olagbegi and Michael Eder Begun Akerete, detail. From Thomas Raggam Prepress; the series; tk o h r Shew, 2009. Grafisch Sure Lerevre, The ed-tors nave made every Kor.njk Illustration 3 on page 10. effort to locate the holders of Lacy's suit made of imported rights. Should this in any case .Printing; in the embroidery textile, detail not have been achieved, European Union Nigeria, mid-1970s please contact the editors. Museum fur Vdlkerkunde Wien. Irv Nc. 138.510 a, b ISBN 978-94-6U1 -000-3 Legal Deposit: D/20l0/0012/31 Illustration 4 on page 12: Batihan Riga gown, detail All rights reserved. Hausa. acquired in Short Title: Senegal c. 1880 Coll. Oskat Lena, Barbara Plankensteiner and Nath Mayo Adediren (eris.l Museum fur Vdlkerkunde African Lane Wien, Inv. No. 12.807 A H.story of Trade. Creativity and Fashion in Nigeria illustration 5 on page Id. Exhibition Catalogue Oswald Brunner with h s business partners Museum fur Volkarkunde Wien and the National Mr. (Hanrewajo and Commission for Museums ■Mr. Fatukasi in aso ebi. Nigeria, 1971. and Monuments Nigeria © S wreck Publishers,UNIVERSITY , OF IBADAN LIBRARY Ghent/Kortriik. 2010 © Kunsthislorisches Museum mil MVK und OTM. 2010 Overall Exhibition Exhibition in Vienna Exhibition in Logos and Ibadan Concept and Curator: ■ lead Curator and Direction: Scientific Direct.cn Barbara Plankensteiner Nath Mayi Aden nr. Barbara Ptankersieiriar and Math Mayo Adedran Assistant. Curator Nation*. Julia Sinter Petition V/,j,,,.. e(,j Museum Lagciv RonkeAshaye Christian H«W Exhibition Management: Christian Hbizt Curator National Project Coordinatiori: Museum Ibadan Marianne Hergovidv ireti Kota-George Exhibition Design. Assistants: Dhr stian Stum linger Louisa Onuoha Pamota Otute Exhibition Graphics: Michaeia Nou Exhibition Management Edith Ekunku Conservation: Elisabeth Tarawieh Exhibition Design: Barbara Pdmghaus-Matuelia Nath Mayo Atietjiran Roswtha ?obi ■William Oise- Ayeni F wiari Rainer Exhibition Graphics: Exhibition Construe! ic«■,: Ytnka Qtajubu Artex, Vienna Canice Ikashi Fefbi Oyeyipc Carpentry- Workshop Museum fur Conservation: ViKkerkurde-KHM Simon Momoh Florence Emmetts Communication and Marketing: Exhibition Construction; Nina Auirder-Sustoriuty Co.ms Onuosa Ruth Strcndt i dr I Oxer Sarah Aistteitnar Akrib yo Olutayo Angelika Krpnreif Chris Onuakpor Museum I ducat cr Communication Christine Kaofmann and Marketing: Vickie K Aqtti Louisa Onuoha Museum Education: Victoria Okotaovn! UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Acknowledgements Theresa Abensperg-Tratm, Adebimpe Adebarnbo, Silifat 0. Adekoya, LA. Adeniyi-Usman, Adenike R. Adewuyi. O'Yemi Afolabk Ndtdi Aimienwauu, Abiola 0. Atoba, Olubunmi Amatotsera-Keke. Bimbo Atta, Kunle Bakare, Toyin Bakare. Andrea Bauer, Burgl Baustadter, Matthias Beitl, Wolfgang Bender, Brigitte and Werner Berlinger, Josef Blaser, Margret and Hanno Bosch, Raimund Bosch. Roy Bosch, Rudy Bosch, Traude Bosch, Oswald A. Brunner, Johanna Cnetnik. Christine Demuth, Erelu Abiola Docemo, Nnenna Dosurnu, Elisabeth Egger, Tam Fiofori, Arno Rtz, Gerti furrer, Bernhard Gardi, Lara George, Mekwuye Godwin. Tatiana Grassmayr, Ingeborg Grau, Kart Hagspiet, Lot bar Hammerle, Andre Herrenschmidt, Andrea Holer, Ivo Hofer, Martin Hater, Shanay A. Hubmann. Julie Hudson, Hein;; Hundertpfund, Osaro Idah, Kurt Isete, Hakeem A. Jimo, Martha Jungwirth, Alhaja Kareem, Regina Karner, Alex Kohler, Wiltried Kbnig, Wolfgang Kunze, Funmi Ladele. Monika Maislmger, Lucia Mennel, Mary Metzier. Dele Momodu, Gerhard Muller, Sigmund Nemeti, David Noden. Oiuyem Ogundele. Amaize Ojeikere. Data Okoroduciu, Betty Okuboyejo, Modupe I. Olukoya, Adolphus Opara, Temitenjo M, Owolana, Sascha Reichstein, Peter Repo. Eva Richter, Gunter A. Richter. Markus Riedmann. Ado Rieger, Christo* Ritter, Helmut Ritter, Dietmar Schadner, Margot Schindler, Stefan SchoU, Shari Mobo aji Shitu. Anita Squinobal, AndreasStaudacher, Axel Steinmann, Inge Stolterfoht. Elisabeth Stdtzler, Angela Vdtker, Herbert and Karin Wolf!, Maneke and Albrecht Zimburg. We wish to thank the following companies for their gifts of textiles forth© exhibition: Albert Bosch Stickereien, Lustenau; Ernst Bosch & Co., Lustenau; Getzner Textit A6, Btudenz; Oskar Hammerte,' Lustenau; Hammerle & Sehlbach, Lustenau; HOH HolerHecht Stickereien, Lustenau; HKG Embroideries, Lustenau: K. Riedesser, Lustenau; Markus Riedmann. Lustenau; Wilhelm Scheffknecht, Lustenau; Supreme Lace, Ikeja, Lagos. We wish lo thank the following companies for their sponsorship of the fashion project: Ernst Bosch & Co., Lustenau; Gachter Karl. Lustenau; Oskar Hammerle, Lustenau; HKG Embroideries, Lustenau; Intertextil Martha Jungwirth. Lustenau; Daniel Metzters Erben. Sat'.eins; K. Riedesser, Lustenau: Markus Riedmann, Lustenau; Wilhelm Scheffknecht. Lustenau. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 11 Sabine Haag 153 Louisa Onuoha Preface Nigerian Lace Merchants. Stories and Experiences 13 Yusuf Abdallah Usman Preface 167 Peju Layiwola The Art of Dressing Welt. Lace Culture 15 Christian Feest and Fashion Icons in Nigeria Foreword 181 Sola Olorunyomi Lace Fashion as Heteroglossia in the ESSAYS Nigerian Yoruba Cultural Imaginary 19 Barbara Piankensteiner 195 Lace Fashion designed by Ituen Basi, and Nath Mayo Adediran Vivid Imagination, Frank Osodi and African Lace, The Project Tiffany Amber 23 Barbara Piankensteiner 207 Kunle Bakare African Lace. A Recent Chapter Celebrity Reporting. in Nigerian Fashion History A Participant's Chronicle 37 Nath Mayo Adediran 221 Party Culture in Nigeria Lace in Nigerian Fashion and Interview with Dele Momodu Popular Culture. An Introduction 233 Adolphus Opara. Eko for Show 49 Okhai Ojeikere. Portraits 67 Barbara Piankensteiner APPENDIX Silesian Linens, English Wootens, Colourful Wax Prints. 236 Bibliography A Short History of the European 243 Maps Textile Trade with West Africa 248 Chronology 252 Authors 71 Elisha P, Renne 253 Glossary of Textiles and Figured, Textured, and Empty Spaces. their Designations An Aesthetics of Textiles and Dress in Nigeria 91 Lucia Mennel Austrian Embroideries. History, Actors, and Economic Networks UNIVERSITY107 Daily Production OF IBADAN LIBRARY An Art Project by Sascha Reichstein 113 Barbara Piankensteiner African Lace. Material of a Trans continental History of Relations UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Preface Many Austrians might already have had an opportunity to admire the brightly coloured or snow-white lavish lace dresses worn by people of Nigerian descent. They might have noticed them in the media, « or caught a glimpse of Africans on their way to church or to a festive occasion. Only a few however know A ' that the textiles of which these fascinating garments are created, are in fact industrial embroideries that are manufactured in Vorarlberg in Western Austria since the 1960s specifically for the Nigerian market. To me personally, the elegant appearance of African women is quite familiar from my youth: not because I ever travelled to Africa, but because Nigerian businesswomen are a frequent sight on the streets of certain towns in Vorartberg. They visit the area regularly to order new collections and cultivate contacts with embroidery companies in Lustenau and surroundings. ! am very pleased that we have been able to organize this exhibition on African Lace in collaboration with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria. For various reasons this is an exceptional exhibition: it surpasses the classical themes of ethnography by exploring a history of dress and fashion and integrates the perspective of contemporary artists. African Lace is devoted to a recent, still unexplored, chapter of African fashion history. It is entirely based on research carried out by the curator of the exhibition and her partners in Nigeria, who have conducted interviews and field studies both in Lustenau in Vorarlberg and Lagos with surroundings. Far the first time the subject is illuminated both from a historical and cultural perspective. With the exhibition and the accompanying catalogue we are able to present the results of this research to a broader public. The project therefore demonstrates once more the important role of museums as centres of research on material culture, conveying innovative approaches and findings worthy of inter national recognition. The project f urther complies in a special manner with the central aims of museum work in preserving cultural heritage and communicating knowledge. As part of the preparatory research, collections of lace attires dating from the 1970s to the present were assembled for both the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna and the National Museum in Lagos, with a view to permanently document the subject in the official institutions of both countries. The embroidery textiles connect Nigeria and Austria in a special way: as a result of a lively exchange that has endured for over half a century they can be clearly as serted as an Austrian-Nigerian product. A product, that defines the appearance of Nigerians around the world, and contributes in keeping a thriving Austrian industry alive. 5 The timing for the exhibition could not. have been more appropriate. On October 1,2D10 Nigeria cele brates the fiftieth anniversary of independence from colonial rule. The story of these textiles is also indirectly related to this special historical moment. We hope that the exhibition will also attract the interest of Nigerian residents in Austria, who represent one of the largest African communities in our country. We trust that the project contributes in introducing the Austrian public to a fascinating aspect of Nigerian culture and life, beyond the usual tendentious headlines. I am greatly indebted to Barbara Plankensteiner for suggesting and curating this extraordinary exhibition. I also like to express my gratitude to the embroidery companies in Lustenau whose gener ous support, both financial and through the donation of textiles, have enabled to invite four renowned designers from Nigeria's fashion capital Lagos to create designs from embroidery textiles. Their in UNIVERSITYgenious and elegant creations offer OF a fascinating IBADAN insight into the LIBRARYcountry's contemporary culture of fashion and dress styles. I also like to thank the Austrian Commercial Section in Lagos for coordinating this fashion project and for its generous assistance. ill Sabine Haag — Director General, Kunsthistorisches Museum mit Museum fur Vdlkerkunde und Osterreichischem Theatermuseum a UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Thinking about lace and its multi-faceted fabric, texture, color and general form, one conceives a unique material that radiates beauty and elegance and adds overall glamour.' Lace in Nigeria consti tutes an art form that evolved over time and is stilt evolving. Lace attire in Nigeria has come to acquire a distinctive character which expresses a certain level of wealth and position. It also confers prestige on activities and events. It conveys supreme elegance and value, and can be regarded as a symbol of high prestige. The level of prestige is commensurate with the cost of the material. The discourse in this catalogue is multi- spectral and is seen from the perspective of producers and users of lace, academics and merchants, as well as those who are concerned with design, aesthetics and fashion. Another perspective is also interesting: that of journalists who specialize in reporting on celebrities and party culture, the domain where the use of lace is more pronounced. It: is indeed rewarding to present this subject to the European and the Nigerian public, where it has acquired different meanings in different segments of the society. It also denotes different value at various stages of life. The catalogue presents a number of stimulating aspects of lace. These include African lace, lace in Nigerian fashion, the tace culture, and of course Nigerian lace materials. This exhibition explains why lace is of importance in Nigerian society by presenting various forms of lace materials. These reflect their rich cultural heritage and social significance and also highlight the enduring relationship be tween Nigeria and Austria. This exhibition w ill surely be rewarding for all those who are interested in textiles, fashion and cul tural heritage. Yusuf Abdallah Usman — Director General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY v • ■ i' ; f *>< ««*• M r I a 5 *i&JSfe - UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY l Foreword "Clothes make the man” , or, as the Yoruba say, aso tedidi eniyan ("attire makes the man'-). Nearly ” everywhere in the world what humans wear as their second skin on top of their first one (and be it only pigments painted on their bodies! serves to mark individual or collective identities. Gender, age, status, affiliation with local, regional, or ethnic communities, as well as attitudes and personal situa tions of the wearer may be reflected by the shape and workmanship of garments, which in turn are affected by the often contradictory influences of social conventions, governmental interventions, changing fashions, and the desire for self-representation. But it is also people who make the cloth and the most important material used today for this purpose are textiles, which owe their triumphant advance to the rise of manufacturing and industrial produc tion in association with a process of globalization that has assumed ever greater momentum since the early modern period. An exhibition like African Lace, which exemptaritv deals with decorated textiles and fashions in Nigeria in particular since the country gained independence in 1960, thus almost necessarily speaks not only of bales of cloth and dress patterns, but first and foremost of people- and their need for identity, of markets, and of contradictory interests in the wake of globalization. The exhibition unfolds to the observer an impressive image of a process of cultural appropriation - that almost magic course of events by which the Foreign is transformed into the Domestic: in the case in question, products of the textile industry of Vorarlberg into garments for the rich and beautiful in Nigeria. In the public perception, globalization is frequently equated with an increased levelling of differences due to the dominance of multinational companies. At the same time many contemporaries are worried about the mounting multicutturality of their social environment, which emphasizes the persistence of cultural differences, but at the same time dislocates them from a comforting distance to a proximity felt to be alarming. African Lace illustrates that the world-wide exchange of goods and ideas and the possibilities of global communication and mobility do not necessarily result in a McDonatdization of the world, but on the contrary may contribute to satisfying the desire to articulate local or regional distinctions. This leads to openings in the market better served by smaller businesses with greater flexibility and adaptability than large corporations. The economic success of a small country tike Austria on world markets is significantly due to its ability to adapt to the specific demands of these openings. The high degree of discretion required to protect market positions may be one of the reasons why this important and positive aspect of Austrian-Nigerian relations has so far hardly been noted or even seriously appreciated by the public. This makes it even more pleasing to note that the exhibition African Lace has been conceived and developed in cooperation between the Commission of Museums and Monuments Nigeria and the Museum of Ethnology Vienna. Thus, this “secret" chapter in the rela tions between the two countries and their respective cultures w ill now be unveiled both in Austria and Nigeria, This ambitious project would never have come to pass without the active interest of the textile industry of Vorarlberg, for which we would like to express our most heartfelt gratitude. Special thanks are also due to the curators of the exhibition, Barbara Plankensteiner and Nath Mayo Adediran, and their collaborators in Austria and Nigeria, who have approached the yet unwritten history of "Austrian lace" in Nigeria, especially through the stories those involved in its making were witling to te ll UNIVERSITYAt present an exhibition like African OF Lace may IBADAN still be regarded as rather LIBRARY unusual for an ethnographic museum, but it also highlights the possibilities of such institutions to make and convey to the public important contributions to a better understanding of the world. Christian Feest — Director, Museum of Ethnology Vienna UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Sola Olcrunyomi Lace Fashion as Heteroglossia in the Nigerian Yoruba Cultural Imaginary Ebi kit a'eniyan de’di leesc* I’tace is not a destination for ranging over the entirety of structuralism - including the impoverished', or. more literally, ‘The poor do not semiotics, Marxism, and feminism, besides post-struct hunger lor lace'.)* uralism and deconstructive criticism, even the post A contemporary Nigerian Yoruba aphorism modern! Yet, how can we discuss the Nigerian lace phenomenon without drawing insights from conceptual Aso nla ko leyan nla. I The dress does not make the man', hegemony and shades of the power and ideology matrix? or, more colloquially, 'Your big dress w ill nol make you White drawing references from all these strategies of big-.) reading, I am inclined to examine the embedded hetero A traditional Yoruba proverb glossia and communicative ability of lace fashion in Nige ria in a mode of cultural criticism that intends to show ... as a rule, the makers of fashion have imposed upon sensitivity to ethnographic details in the Nigerian Yoruba humanity through the ages an intolerable burden of cultural imaginary. superfluous anti cumbersome covering By and large, this piece wilt explore the theoretical Robins Pennell 1927:392 foundations of identity in relation to the cultural con sumption of clothing arid dress, besides seeking to inter Many routes, says the Yoruba cultural imaginary, lead to pret in ethnographic terms -a dress form tike lace as a the market. And by appropriation, this researcher pro kind of non-verbal communicative text. Furthermore, the poses the same dictum for fashion discourse. Or, if you chapter wilt highlight contextual factors operating to would prefer, fashion admits of many potential modes of define the dress form and identify the same factors in interpretation. So also does, and particularly too, the lace social terms among the Nigerian Yoruba, where lace is fashion culture (fig , 1 H I Even more, it could be said that a pre-eminent fashion item and event. We hint at this the multiple discourses made possible by fashion seem by recognizing, as Caroline Evans 11997: 235) notes of encouraged by both the specific nature of the fashion Malcolm Barnard's work, that fashion and dress are in event, such as the lace culture in Nigeria, and the broad trinsically linked in a mode of socially agreed communi theoretical possibilities that; can attend the fashion de cation, and one indeed imbued-with power and ideology'. bate in general. in identifying the sample population as Nigerian Yoruba, As a generic term, lace admits of types and modes as I seek to limit, my observations to those of that extraction material culture, and in the Yoruba reading it also allows within the country, and even excluding such Immediate for a perceptual interpretative diversity in relation to neighbours as the Bentnois Yoruba. But even Yoruba, as its wearers as welt as commentaries on its wearing. The with other socio-cultural identifies, is 3 construct. It is Nigerian Lace culture enthrones a plethora of social com this element of wishing into being and constructing mentaries such that we can say, in the final analysis, lace into textual discourse that Benedict Anderson (1983:15) is implicated in a galaxy of sigmfiars; lace, in this sense, dwells upon in imagined Communities by observing that is ’heteroglossia' - to co-opt the insight of Mikhail Bakh alt communities larger than primordial villages of face- tin (19811, For emphasis,! hint at two moments of this to-face contact (and perhaps even these) are imagined. claim. One is to note that the fabric and styles of lace are Communities are to be distinguished, not by their falsity/ diverse, and these have invited an equally varied range of genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined.’ casual societal responses. The second is at the level of Yet, ! merely aggregate the most common habits in a more format nature of discursive practice in dress contemporary social rituals of the group, but these are and fashion culture. This would imply the varied insights also rituals that buttress broad affinities iti respect to that canUNIVERSITY be derived and deployed in interpreting OF the lace IBADANclothing, dress, and theLIBRARY lace culture as an aspect of a event; and these-could include cultural relativist theories diffused identity continuum. This has also been supported by the researcher s unfolding observations over the last three decades, within the region, of a persistent ex - Tiq. 193- Dent, men ■. suit. Cy 194. pression ot dress and lace culture through proverbs, F * W- Wer -ijiM Ngci.i ; -illy W £ i I C m o v_.iiev.-ih floral allcver 1 18 -r.wtwiioanis .. I'S m c M jscutr >Jr VftlkerkiiiMieWic, tnv *~trvtry tn^or> yaul anti acpliesi&l Swaiwsk; saner, f Bute sN ft: No. 187.520 a, b. | ; L , aphorisms, songs [traditional and popular), panegyrics, post-independence era it became a symbol of arrival literary exegesis, radio and television programming, among the nouveaux riches, and a target to meet in social among others. This background has equally been compte- climbing among other excluded groups. Two other factors ; A mented with primary references from field study among came to popularize lace among the Yoruba lower classes; lace enthusiasts, wearers, and traders, and the broad the patron-client social structure and the communal literature on the fashion industry. All these have helped ethos of the aso ebi (kinship communal dress), aspects to shape an understanding that straddles cultural tem- that would be buttressed much later. It suffices to hole i plates, as ontology of fashion, its manifest realization in for now that explaining fashion as a communicative text dress performance by cultural actors themselves, and requires acknowledging 'the role of subjectivity, desire their theorizingUNIVERSITY of the set) in this intricate web OFand IBADAN fantasy in the act of dressing, LIBRARY the wearing of fashion' Lace has been an important item in Nigerian trade ex [figs. 195and 196; Evans 1997: 231). change since the colonial era, and even earned its code ol prestige with the emergent elite of this period. In the ” ;9- ?hrw,-pf*c» w**r\‘z s«it I IWQs f Cotton voa« with L "0?.S cm, ®>k$to pants: L 109 err I Myseym hit V^srkund® W^n, rwjusirial aifcwsr emoraidory <11 f*yotv TNs 'wcM.in* of? tie gown is frord*- l?w. No. 18? 521 a. b. <:. r»c with machineI Aghsdsi gown: W. 187 cm. fa#? shirt: r ■ Outcome from the Field tween the threads', the Merriam Webster's (2008) Dic tionary identifies it as 'an openwork usually figured fabric Request a discussion on lace and the tongue waxes; ask made of thread or yarn and used for trimmings, house for a definition and it wanes. Strangely, my field experi hold coverings, and entire garments'. ence indicates that there seems to be no unanimity on Quite often interviewees were more comfortable de what constitutes lace among wearers and traders of the scribing lace in market taxonomies; dry lace', 'cotton product! Responses range over a sense of lace as texture lace', 'voile lace', 'double voile lace', satin', 'wonyosi'. etc. ot fabric, design on tabnc, specific fabric type, mode and in especial moments, a product could be named after motif. An immediate paraiiel to this is the manner in a successful trader such as the Ibadan brand that came which native speakers could use language but with to be known as Aihaja Wositat Skeotu lace. They also list out necessarilyUNIVERSITY having an understanding of the working OF the sourcesIBADAN of importation as LIBRARY Switzerland, Bangkok, principles of its grammar or syntax - something of an Austria, and China, among others. There is unanimity on assumed immanent knowledge. White Microsoft Encarta the fact that Switzerland and Austria produce the best (20081 describes lace as a 'Delicate fabric with patterned grade of lace, and China ranks high on imitation pro holes; a delicate fabric made by weaving cotton, silk, or ducts, Yet, importation from China seems to be soaring, a synthetic yarn in a pattern that leaves small holes be owing to competitive pricing. Import-export relations * + UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY have equally been affected by the crests and troughs of dition of its wearing. Although lace has remained popular the Nigerian economy, such that the most difficult period among the Yoruba from the 1960s, even achieving some for traders was the mid-1980s, with the introduction of thing of fashion default for prestigious outings and cere the Structural Adjustment Programme IS A PI.’1 Prior to monies, the high lace era was pegged in the post oil- this period, there was some measure of confidence in boom period of the mid-1970s (Fig. 197). It was at this the market and the exchange partners, traders, and point that if became the undisputed market leader and suppliers could o p e ra te o n a payment after sales basis, fashion fabric of choice. However, with SAP, the industry began to experience high indebtedness among traders and this system was scrapped for a cash-and-carry model What is more, many local textile factories such as Shokas, Five Star, Empee, and Dattex were badly affected by SAP and this led to the laying off of workers, and to some closures. The popularity of the trade has also spawned under hand methods among many apprentices who, in order to make extra income, resort to trickery in the scaling and measurement of bundles. The apprentice is obliged to learn the format trade and graduate in between 6 months and 2 years. This training would include ability to identify varieties of the product, judge market trends, travel to sources of purchase, and even team spin-doctoring, Bui with go-betweens (or unofficial market facilitators) known as b a ra n d a , you hardly have the option of not learning confidence-trickery. The b a ra n d a usually has no shop of his own in the marketplace, but hustles to bring the new arrival in the market environment to designated shops. He is knowledgeable about product types and prices and conducts negotiations without being hindered by the shop owner. For his efforts he returns to get a cut from the sate, his labour having been factored into the final cost price. Unable to earn an income- in the same way (apprentices pay the shop owner for the privilege oflearning), the apprentice resorts to the apade-aiude trickery of systematic taking inches off customers’ fabrics in the hope of reselling the off-cuts or sewing something for themselves after amounting a sizeable measure. Lace's main context of exhibition is generally celebra tory: initiation, victory, promotion, and a joyous r ite de passage, for example, indeed the wearing of lace would usually invite the query, 'what's the occasion?' This use- fixation informs, perhaps, the only non-context-free con UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY . i i . * ' j | gj "k . %: Lady's suO i Nigeria* 1980$ I Cotton v&fie with msushrial. r:; y, 197; Lady’s I Nlam'ia. e. 1975 I Industrial goipgMj 6r$ro«£ery e nsroKje-y ft rayon and added c-order w .h embrcKtety i Uo with cotton y a ri I fro wrapper. L 1903 cm. buba blouse: L SO.5 cm i wrapper t 24 cn tube blouse I 6f> r: c r : Muoeurr *y v'^lkerkuhce Museum fur V8tfc«rky.sid6 Wien? Inv No. 1 §7.358 a, fe. W;ea i 'v No ty? 5Ah a h Cultural Subsoil of the Proverbial, archetypes, and other systems of valuation, just as well Song-Text, and Literary Rendering as it stresses different layers of social relations. It does this sometimes through a strict adherence to non-verbal Equally, it was at the height of this fashion's popularity cues, but at other times with verbal complements by that an intense discourse emerged in popular music and reiteration, substitution, and even contradiction. literary practice as would be demonstrated in this chap Social context and the agency of the Yoruba cultural ter, There is a sense in which the performance of the lace actor inform the direction in which the cloth metaphor is fashion could have been informed by cultural pretexts deployed. The layers of apparent contradictions in the anchored to three critical Yoruba fashion concepts: aso, doth metaphors examined further buttress the hetero- oge, ipe'de. Simply put, aso is doth, oge is fashion, and glossia and a residual hermeneutical ability in the cul ipe'de - making a statement. White both aso and oge. ture. Hence, on the one hand the Yoruba say, Baa lin n ni could be related to a trend and even a fad, specific types ankoni (‘Your appearance informs the reception you get'), of aso, such as safe'4 of the Ogboni fraternity, could be as cautionary, yet on the other hand this quickly revises locked in grand narratives of use-value such as ritual, itself to, Aso nla ko leyan nta (The dress does not make thereby acquiring a sacred or near-sacred accretion. The the man' or 'Appearance can be deceptive', something in sense of ipe’de’s statement making is usually not a verbal the moutd of The hood does not make the monk'). Social mode of communication. The verb pe'de in this context stratification is buttressed in the saying, Kini oruko aso implies an overarching sense of non-verbal figuration, a re ni ie alaro, with the implication that the wealthy are metaphor of implying and showing without saying, a de identified with distinguishing apparel at the pit-dyer's. piction of something in emblematic form. This need not It gets even a little more intense with cross-referential be restricted to cloth fashion: a new family car could suggestions between wealth and dignity in Aivasowo to stress hierarchy within an extended family unit or within nje mote de bean ni were ('Dignity and self-assurance a neighbourhood, while the aso ebi (kinship communal comes from not borrowing your apparel'). This perspec dress worn at ceremonies) could stress communatity, tive on proverbs bears deep implications for the attitude family unity, or group-bonding experience, it is in this to treating the Yoruba, and many other African cultures, regard that Margaret Drewal (1992: 22-23) interprets the extended embroidery of the Egba Parikoko mask as de noting a semiotic of power in the same sense that sky Fig. 198: Record crncsrc Pick Peters, ana his Sekiormatic System I scrapers in New York would constitute corporate power, Nfgera, 1976 I CoH Centre for Black ana African Arts and Civilization From the point of view of Yoruba hermeneutical practi ICBAACI, Nigeria. ces, these could be described as exercises in statement Fig 199: Record: Genera; Prince Adekunte ! Nigeria, 1980 i Colt. Centre making at an extra-normative level or, as rendered in for Black and Ateccn Arts and Civilization ICBAACI, Nigeria. the culture, ede pipec tn addition, these practices are charged from a force field that gestures at other levels of rig 200: Record. Ainaji Fatal Adso, The Fuji Waant I Niger a, 1978 S Coll. Centre for Block and African Arts and Civilization ICBAACI, Nigeria. discourses of dominance and marginatity, filiation and affiliation, inclusion and exclusion, and a myriad other Fig. 201: Record. Segvn Adewaie, Rawc 7wa to Bode i N gerla, 1980 I 7iv N igeria. such binaries. Yet, implicit in this cultural practice is the Doll. Centre for Black at d Afr lean Ar: and Nation iCE3AAC), dual, but apparently contradictory, rendering of the doth Figs 202-2C4: Records Uncle TayeAjagun m i hisW umo Sou no Maters. metaphor; it constructs as well as deconstructs itself in -.•els 3, i. 5 i Nigeria. 1976, 1977. 1977 1 11 Centre for Bfack and African Arts and Civilization ICBAACI. Nigeria the manner of the Yoruba !fa hermeneutical narrative." We commence progressively with proverbs, song-texts, Fig. 205: Record-. Civet Commander Eber ez *r Obey. N ger»a. 1970s 1 and a literary rendering. CoU. Centre for Black aivd African Arts and lizatior ICBAACi. Nigeria, Figs 206 ard 2C7: Racerds. General Adeba yo Arenni and fxptting FW Proverbial rendering Systt• The aso (doth), as bodily embodiment and oge sise, the fig 208 Record: Osefatu Adebjsiand her Wska Group I Nigeria. 1970s i performance of fashion, require some more explanation Coll. Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization ICBAACI. Nige-la, in relation to the layers of connotative attributions in the Fig. 209 Record: SunnyAde and his M rx& n Seats, 10“’ Anniversary spe culture. The cloth in this sense is only partly material cial. Nigeria, '9"Cs ! Coll. Centre for Black, and Afr car Arts and culture. The doth buttresses aspects of Yoruba ontology, Civilization ICBAACI, Nigeria. 1 W & J ^ ®IW!W llMMtf m im ■0SE]F#Tf;i|.ADEBISJ | UNIVERSITYiyw l,M OF rV ^ k #IBADAN fpr|>iipr LIBRARY 111® i l l as monolithic and merely communal, thereby denying Cultural Economy of Song-Text Rendering critical insights on the nature and dynamics of internal, class polarities and the wealth of counter-discursive For the purpose of stressing the art-society commentary strategies within it/them. Even the opening epigraph of on the lace fashion of the 1970s and 1980s, I w ill pre this chapter goes beyond insinuating hierarchy of access sently allude to two song-texts and one play. The song- to lace: its unspoken admonition to the lower rungs of text of Ebenezer Obeys Juju and one Itorin Awurebe society cannot be missed by the Yoruba speaker. And yet music genre, and Wole Soyinka’s Opera Wonyosi have that opening proverb, as has been demonstrated, yields quite immediate bearing on the lace fashion of the era. itself to a subversive reading that turns the tables on the As regards the musical genre, it is crucial to understand arrogance of the dominant class. the cultural economy of the Yoruba ariya (funfair), and Thus, this is only one strategy of reading, as the entire how the general constitution of the patron-client rela exercise above could be revised. If read in the context of tionship of the country's political economy affects it. a dysfunctional elite, the entire punning of proverbs back The Yoruba ariya in the post-colonial aftermath is at fires on the upper classes. Sometimes the cloth proverb once a revue and performance of sociability and kinship. informs on hierarchy and social roles. In the proverb Otun In the particular context of Its oil-boom enactment, the niomoba nge fila si, we learn that a prince is expected to Nigerian celebratory almost came to denote the Yoruba slant his cap rightwards. But there is even a potentially ariya w rit large. For a while it seemed that any excuse metonymic import of this claim among the Ookun-Yoruba could be contrived to occasion social revelry and fun of Northeast Yorubaland, where Eva Krapf-Askari {1966; fair. And the primary vehicle of such carousing was Juju 3) had identified a 'triadic pattern of classification which music. It could hardly be otherwise because, as noted by underlies the political organisation ... [and one that has Christopher Waterman (1990: 14), 'Juju portrays a tra shown] a remarkable persistence through tim e! In slant ditional hierarchy mitigated by the generosity of the ing his cap rightwards, we get an abridged semiosis of wealthy.’ Unlike Juju, a genre like Fela’s Afrobeat music an ascendancy pattern in the monarchical system as the critiqued the tendency to 'naturalize’ social dominance ‘left’, 'right', and 'centre' are symbolically tagged. and subservience through cultural reproduction. Over The metaphoric scope of the cloth image stretches all, the Afrobeat musical, genre queried the tendency beyond fashion into the realm of ethics. This kind of ex towards supplanting critical cultural insight by elite tension is exemplified in the saying Eni tio daso fun m voyeurism as normative value in society. Beyond this, it: t 'orunre laawo [’We have to assess the apparel of the per called attention to the contradictions of the social pro son who is making a donation of clothes to another’), duction of wealth and its private consumption by the elite. which implies the need to go beyond precept and show That elite, including its civilian and brass extractions, was by example. All said and done, proverbs, aphorisms, the lace class of that era, at least as far as the Yoruba songs, and panegyrics shift in layers of meaning, thereby group was concerned. And it was in this sense that Juju denoting the potential adaptive and transformational music served the lace class in perpetuating its hegemony character of even formal ritual as a re-creation of myth. (Figs. 198-2081. Margaret Drewal 11992:27) captured this dynamism when The Nigerian elite has been variously characterized, she delineated a broad spectrum of ways in which im and Richard Joseph's (1991: 1] perspective is quite in provisation could change ritual through 'psychic trans structive. Describing the nature of the emergent state, formation ... spontaneous interpretations, recontextu- Joseph contends that any fruitful discussion about Nige atisation, reconstitution of conventions and individual ria must take into account the 'nature, extent and per interventions into the ritual event'. This observation cap sistence of a certain mode of political behaviour, and of tures the instability of the rhetoric of the Yoruba pro its social and economic ramification', and suggests a verb, and the potentialUNIVERSITY for its textual interpretation OF - conceptualIBADAN notion of 'prebendatism'LIBRARY to explain the 'cen even destabilization - such as we have found here. Over trality in the Nigerian polity of the intensive and persistent a decade ago, Remi Raji-Oyelade (1999) had explored the struggle to control and exploit the offices of the state' persistent rupture in emergent post-proverbial enun (Joseph 1991: 1). According to him', the historical asso ciations among the Yoruba. ciation of the term prebend' with the offices of certain lords or monarchs, or with the outright purchase by supplicants, who administered them to generate income for themselves, arose in ancient Greece. Hence, the adjective 'prebendal‘ is used to refer to ’patterns of poll- popular imagination to make lace an index of armed tical behavior which rest on the justifying principle that robbery, in the track titled Vro nipa lace', the musician Mtstrf* & tk>r *»**& tfhmr* #***•-'■ f&tt'iy m under which lies an economic stratum that has been variously described as a 'government by contract" and a Ewo ni ka laso asiko, k'ama le wo jade rentier' state, in which revenues derive from taxes or [How come wearing one's most trendy cloth becomes rents on production, rather than from productive activity. difficult?) Nigeria's oil revenue, its economic mainstay, was the issue at stake here. The centrality of the state in deciding T'okunrin ba wo fees/, w'ani Folorunso who becomes the patron - since state power confers IA man who wears lace is labelled [the armed robber] the ability to control enormous economic resources and Folorunso) access to oil revenue - has turned Nigeria’s politics into a state of warfare. This period reached an apogee in the Tobinrin ba wo leesi, w'ani aya Babatunde early and mid-1970s. And it brewed a most consumptive (A woman who wears late is labelled wife of [the armed import habit in the country. In furtherance of this habit, robber] Babatunde) the Yoruba variant of this bizarre elite diverted its un earned surplus to a frenzy in the ariya event. Ema f'oju buruku wo'ni fees/ Ideological cultural moderators served the purpose (Do not stereotype the wearer of lace) and style of living of this elite. For instance, while succes sive Nigerian governments kept censoring the Afrobeat Eni t 'o jale iyen lo ye k 'abawi musical form, it paved the way for the popularization of [Only the proven thief deserves admonishment) other forms of music such as Juju, Not only was Juju con sidered non-threatening to the status quo, but: the height Elegbe m 'egbe, Elegbe m 'egbe of Juju's official endorsement also coincided with the (Everyone should be mindful of his rung in the class height of the assault on Afrobeat, indeed culminating in hierarchy) the physical destruction, in 1977, of the headquarters of the latter’s most popular exponent, Fela Kuti. Juju would Ajumo mi wo leesi, Elegbe m'egbe usually be allotted generous air time and patronage, (Increasing opportunity in wearing lace does not obviate mainly because, unlike Afroheat, it hardly challenged the class polarity) elite's ideological attempt to reproduce what Waterman 11990; 14) describes as a structure of dominance'. Even Chorus; when Juju sometimes located society's sense of place, Elegbe m 'egbe, Elegbe m 'egbe time, and event, it fell short of challenging the patronage (Equals and peers know one another, or One should be structure on alt these fronts. mindful of one's rung in the class hierarchy) Shortly after the 1971 armed-robbery incident in which Babatunde Isola Folorunso was executed at the Lagos Ajumo mi wo leesi, Elegbe m 'egbe Bar Beach while cladUNIVERSITY in his wonyosi lace, a rash of cul OF(Among IBADAN kin everybody wears LIBRARY lace, but equals and peers tural interpretations was triggered. As with the embed know one another) ded polysemy of the lace discourse itself, there was a variegated response. This was evident in the press and The response of Olohun iyo, an Awurebe musician, was the general media just as in musical renditions, ruptur quite different; his lyrics simply denounce the lace-wear ing post-proverbials, and dramatic interpretations by ing armed robber. He even somewhat turned aesthetic playwrights. prosecutor, providing the date, manner, and context of a Ebenezer Obey, one of the leading exponents of Juju burglary and an armed-robbery event. In the first in music, was trenchant in rebutting the tendency in the stance: Won lo fo’le ni Surulere, ni’le Athaia/ won ba pade oun tio je won/ I For sure the home of an Alhaja was iaid a hand on me or Polly [their daughter who eventually burgled in Surulere [district of Lagos], but robbers met marries the scum] except with his lace gloves on (empha t heir Waterloo!. The self-crusading prosecutor goes fur sis mine). Elsewhere in the play De Madam dreams of a ther; Babatunde Folorunso, sibiiia nan n i/ ise kan ko ni won contact in the Middle East from whom, ostensibly, lace jo se/ iyen lo da'na ni ti e gedegbe n i... o yo ibon si the and gold are brought to the country for elite legitimation. owner/ oni ko f'erege kobe ku ’gbo (In the case of the Even when dialogue drifts to their daughter going out civilian Babatunde Folorunso, his operation was slightly with the lace merchant, a suggestion of the wily spend different. He was an outright armed robber, halting a thrift is connoted. The comment gets more caustic at a driver al gunpoint, and ordering him out into the wild). metonymic level with 'The Song of Ngh Ngh Ngh' when Anikura and De Madam sing in unison about the differ Literary Rendering ential treatment meted out to crooks in the country. They enthuse that the long arm of the law misses the big 'Swaggering and scabrous, at once a verbal spree and a crook, 'white your sm all-tim e bandit earns lead perfora fierce assault on totalitarianism' is the way the London tion', a particularly disturbing imagery of volleys of Observer described Wole Soyinka's Opera Wonyosi (1984). bullets pumped into the body of convicted armed robbers A deeply punning parody on the African and Nigerian through public execution as was the practice in the 1970s, elite, Soyinka’s play nonetheless takes a sarcastic swipe bringing to mind the case of the aforementioned Baba at both the high and low of society, in the same tradition tunde Folorunso, who got shredded along with the per as John Gay’s 1782 The Beggar's Opera. Sertoli Brecht and forated wonyosi lace he donned at the stake. Both the Kurt Weil later created a popular new musical adaptation action of this incident and the recurrent motif of perfora of the work in Germany entitled Die Dreigroschenoper tions in lace became cross-referentialty linked in the l The Threepenny Opera). However, the organizing motif Nigerian public discourse of this period. The gory and that powers Soyinka's adaptation is the lace fashion, morbid portrayal of the ‘Bar Beach Show', the venue of most beloved as an index of upward class mobility by the this execution event in Lagos, is further heightened with Nigerian Yoruba elite and society. And the consecration the flurry of attendees at the occasion, which included, at of this textual fair is led by the lace merchant, Mack-the- the height of this absurdist moment in the drama, a Knife, an amoral, anti-heroic, crim inal character. woman divorcing her husband, who had dared suggest Soyinka commences this intertextual engagement right she could not attend the gory ‘picnic' with the children, from the first word of the play's title, 'Opera' - this time and a blood-drip drooping patient who self-discharges manipulating the tonality of opera’ in Yoruba to effect a from his hospital ward - and with his nurse in hot pur double entendre realized as a form of spendthrift! And in suit - alt in the bid to see the ‘tace'-merchant-robber! the tricky muUivocatity that the tonal system allows in All through, the lace motif is deployed in weaving the plot the culture, many -- including literary scholars - came structure of a decadent society, and with lace fashion to read it as an oblique reference to the Nigerian elite, sometimes acquiring the status of an emblem of this whose Head of State at the height of the petro-dotlar oil- decadence. boom economy had been quoted as boasting; ‘Money is This motif powers the play to the end, even as Mack- not Nigeria's problem but how to spend it!' Even when the the-Knife faces his executioners at the stake. Asked to play soothes and stings, jests and jibes, it mobilizes the make his last prayers as the soldiers take their aim, the imagery of dress, conceptual fashion, and the cultural play slips into a naturalistic, absurdist tone with Mack- consumption of lace clothing to hone its point. The lace the-Knife blurting out; T shall be brief. Tell your men type, wonyosi, that Soyinka alludes to was eventually to take positions and take aim. When i have finished banned in the listUNIVERSITY of possible imports, but its prestige OF I IBADANshall raise my lace handkerchief LIBRARY like this and say "So long" merely rose, and led to a dangerous smuggling tor F'aya [Soyinka 1984: 401; emphasis mine]. But suddenly after wo in Yoruba] spree for a consumptive elite. this, a deus ex machina sets in, and an unrestrained The ironic prestige of lace could not be better but parody of a happy ending in the Brechtian mode, sug tressed than in the suppressed sarcasm of De Madam in gesting that the final theatre of confrontation with social response to her husband, Anikura, who had insinuated decay and the lace class is out there - beyond the round, that her visiting the Octopus Disco smacks of her being beyond the proscenium - in the streets! in lowly, seedy company. She retorts: ‘It's a respect able place. And the gentleman [Mack-the-Knife] never Lace across Time N igerian A rtis try , showing that in the hands of contemp orary artists like Nike Okundaiye, pattern dyeing be Drawing from personal observation, there is no evidence comes quite adventurous, exhibiting, fresh creativity in of a marked shift in She couture of lace in the last five, forms tike the. modem wax batik adire, stencilled adire but one, decades. Add to this outcomes from interviews, eleko, and patchwork on denim. The outcrop couture, observations from a broad range of family albums, news especially with the admixture of aso oke, akwete, and paper and magazine photo-reports, the mode of pattern hand-woven fabric, has found space along the diverse cutting and sewing of lace has followed the simple neo- social rungs among the Yoruba. It has received endorse traditional styles of hubs, soro, agbada (for men), and the ment from royalty as seen in regal garb, yet at social iro and buba top (for women). With increasing sophisti engagements such as weddings, graduation ceremonies, cation in fashion houses, however, and the adventurism casuals, and interior decoration, the embroidered doth of models, lace is gradually being reworked and is re has acquired added meaning ceiving lessUNIVERSITY restrictive interpretations IFig. 2101 And OF this IBADANAlthough not anticipating aLIBRARY solely Yoruba readership, a is particularly true of female couture in the last decade. 2009 elan magazine pullout of the Next newspaper, en Besides lace, this new thinking is evidently trans titled Sheer Delight', helps to capture a critical swing. generic across other fabrics appreciated by the Yoruba, 'It's mysterious is the sense of shift with which the editor as Pat Oyelola (2010) has demonstrated in her recent of the fashion page, Adaobi Nwanbani, flags the edition. And in a tone anticipatory of current research, the pullout The following pages right after the inside cover simply announces: 'There's something about lace, IS covers up run off. First is a sleeveless lace mini dress, set off by and shows off at the same time'; and, with this, it gently slim, taunting, long tegs hugged k> a stop by leopard- evokes Roland Barthes' propositions of 'pla isir (pleasure) print heels. Some panther!? You hold your breath and and 'jouissance' Ibtissl, even if only meekly tenden next emerges a teenage model in a more provocative tious unlike Barthes' articulation of the second-order of sleeveless grey satin top with lace details on the neck semiology in M ythologie (1990) and The Pleasure of the over a black lace dress in full perforation, see-through Text 11976). For sure, the pattern cutting exhibited in the and revealing immaculate white petticoat, and with her magazine has gone beyond the anticipation of the neo- gesture she seems to challenge the normative female traditionat; it would sit more comfortably with the pose as inscribed in puritanical public preachments avaritgarde. Playing on suggestive phrases like 'Lace in Nigeria1 looks Shat will leave them wanting for more', the edition exhibits a variety of styles and colours, Conclusion The covergirt is wearing art at-once broad and fixated view-range, in the mould of the entrapping Mona lisa- By and large, this chapter has teased out the many look. Her eyeballs are prominent and her pupils dilated. potential uses and abuses to which lace fashion could be She is a play in contrast; her Sight skin emerging from a put and which it can be made to serve. In many ways, turtleneck top under a shimmering amethyst neckpiece, lace could also be an abstracted agency as well as an black long-sleeved lace dress, capped with a mini hat object, very much like the broad rubric of the fashion clip, and tips coloured red. The edition's motif extends industry itself. We have managed to show the specific the face metaphor, as the editor announces; conceal and and general contexts of the fabric, and the several layers reveal'. She continues: 'There is something about lace. of social accretion that have been embossed on it, and It conceals but still leaves a tittle something for the eyes.' how it has come to serve, somewhat, as a semiotic over She then takes the reader through a to u rd e force of some load in relation to other fabrics in the Yoruba cultural lace looks, and in the hope that it wilt ‘leave people look imaginary, particularly of the oit-boam era In Nigeria. In ing. wanting to see more'. She might as well have been the final analysis, the more sure-footed way of under egged on in the sensuous by the most popular of our standing the lace phenomenon among the Yoruba may contemporary lexicographers - Microsoft Encarta, 2008, be to locate it in the context of the broader perspective which, as noted above, defines lace as a 'Delicate fabric, of its utility-values, aesthetic and performative prefer with patterned holes... a pattern that, leaves small holes ences, and the particular inclination to make-believe in between threads'. Alt through the exhibit, the Next pull the culture. out dwells on the operational texture and eyelet phrases; delicate fabric; patterned holes! UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 1 Homage to the energy of The Market, where ail paths cnss* cross.; West African markets where our mothers cook the seed of Quiet rebellion and socio-economic Independence, SpectficaUy. I pay tri bute to ait the markets of my youth ana adult experiences: through Ojenne, Muokola, and Adjame in Mali, Ghana, and Cote d'Ivoire, respectively. And in Nigeria; Gusau. MakurtK. Kano, 2aHa, florin, Kabbe, Aryegule*Gbedde< Okene* Ibodsn, end logos. Mora specific* afly* I lose words of appreciation for the mothers between Gbagi in ibabar. and Tejuoso Market in Lagos. I also lose count of individuals in all these markets, but risk intellectual fraudulent* not to men tion the following; Mrs V,0. Ajifeadt. Mrs Atinuke Asiekoya, an ana* nymous Mrs at Tetuoso Market, Mrs Tama isola, Miss Jumoke Olayi* wots, and Mrs Yinka Clannmoye, my colleague from the Department of Anthropology at the Lagos State University ILASUj. And to three anfchPopdogist: friends of mine at the University at Ibadan: Benson 8«ma, Yomi Ggun&ariya, and Tide Qtelajulo fPh D,1, with their pen chant for the ethnographic. umm!'> 2 However, this same proverb can he interpreted in a way that under mines the dominant reading thus: Hunger does not afflict a person to the extent of li.e, in regard tof late"-, or, ©averted still. One cannot be too hungry as not to desire lace. This second reading empowers even the poor to hunger for lace, which is a fabric that has come to be counted as do rigueur in the material culture of the Yoruba. 3 The Structural Adjustment Programme l$AP) was an economic measure initiated by the military government of General Ibrahim Bedamasf Babangida II98S-Y3I The government encouraged the servicing of external debt to the detriment of stimulating local eco nomic growth, and this led to the winding down of many industries, to job toss, and public protests in response to the SAF policy. h The sak< for more traditionally iraglte! *s a piece of doth manually woven on the loom, and used by the Ogboni, a group of male eiders who played both judicial and legislative rotes in the pro colonial social structure of many Yoruba communities, % Literally, "ecie means language, while "pipe" means calling. How ever. In popular use, the semantic field of "ed« pipe" is expanded te imply communicating or signifying with/or beyond language. d The ifs corpus of the Yoruba serves, among other functions, as an interpretative medium. It exhibits a narrative temperament that is intensely polysemic and self-revising. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Bibliography Alakjia, Fotorunso Barth, Heinrich 2001 Fashion: The African Connection. The Spirit, Sou/, 1857 Reisen und Entdeckungen in Nord- und Central- and Body of African Fashion. Lagos. Afrika in den Jahren 1849-1855. 2. Gotha: Justus Perther. Allman, Jean (ed.) 2004 Fashioning Africa. Power and the Politics of Dress. Barthes, Roland Bloomington und Indianapolis-. Indiana 1967 Elements of Semiology. TransL Annette Lavers University Press. and Colin Smith. London.- Jonathan Cape. 1976 The Pleasure of the Text. TransL Richard Miller. Alpern, Stanley B. London: Cape. 1995 What Africans Got for their Slaves: a Master List of 1990 Mythologies. New York: Noonday Press. European Trade Goods. History in Africa 22: 5-43. Bastian, Misty L. Anderson, Benedict 1996 Female ..Alhajis" and Entrepreneurial Fashions: 1983 Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin Flexible Identities in Southeastern Nigerian and Spread of Nationalism. London; Verso. Clothing Practice. In: Hildi Hendrickson led.], Clothing and Difference. Embodied Identities in Apter. Andrew Colonial and Post-Colonial Africa IDurham and 2005 The Pan-African Nation. Oil and the Spectacle London: Duke University Press), 97-132. of Culture in Nigeria. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. Behrends, Frederick 1985 West African Textiles. African Textiles and the Aronson Lisa Collector: 30-33. 1980 History of Cloth Trade in the Niger Delta: A Study of Diffusion. In: Dale Idiens and Bender, Wolfgang K. G. Ponting ieds.), Textiles of Africa (Bath: 2007 Der nigerianische Highlife. Musik und Kunst in The Pasold Research Fund], 89-107. der popularen Kutturder 5Oer und 60er.Jahre. 1985 Women Textile Arts. West African Textiles (Student Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag. Center Gallery, North Carolina State University, Raleigh. North Carolina], 20-23. Beveridge, Fiona C. 1992 The Language of West African Textiles. African Arts 1991 Taking Control of Foreign Investment: A Case Study 2113).-17-26. of Indigenisation in Nigeria. The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 40(2): 302- 333. Awe, Botanle 2001 lyalode Efunsetan Aniwura (Owner of Gold], Borgatti, Jean In: Bolanle Awe (ed.l, Nigerian Women. 1983 Cloth as Metaphor: Nigerian Textiles from the A Historical Perspective (Bookcraft Ltd.], 63-82. Museum of Cultural History. Los Angeles: UCLA. Bakhtin, M. M. Bourdieu, Pierre 1981 The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Texas: 1994 Die feinen Unterschiede. Kritik der gesellschaftlichen TexasUNIVERSITY University Press. OF [1987]IBADAN Urteilskraft. Transt. LIBRARY Bernd Schwibs and Achim Russer. 7” ed. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp. Barber, Karin (ed.) 1987 Popular Arts in Africa. African Studies Review Bouttiaux, Arrne-Marie (Emory: University of Atlanta, Georgia! 3(3I. 2008 African Costumes and Textiles. From the Berbers to 1997 Readings in African Popular Culture. Oxford and the Zulus. Mailand: 5 Continents Editions. Bloomington: James Currey. Brown, Charlotte Vestal Ellovich Risa S. 1985 West African Textiles. North Carolina State University. 1985 West African Textiles - Textile Use. West Africa: 16-19. Burton, Richard F. C. 1863 Abeokuta and the Cameroons Mountains. Euba, Titilola An Exploration. London. 1987 Dress and Status in 19'1 Century Lagos. In: Ade Adefude, Babatunde Agiri and Jide Osuntokun Clarke, Duncan leds.I, History of the People of Lagos State (Lagos: 2001 Money is the doth of Fashion. Textiles from the Lantern Books!: 139-159. Yoruba Region of Nigeria. Hati 118, September/ October: 106-112. Evans, Caroline 2002 The Art of African Textiles. Kent: Grange Books. 1997 [No title. In:] Journal of Design History 10(2), Oxford: OUP 1997: 231-233. Coplan, David 1985 In Township Tonight1. London: Longman. Falola, Toyin and Matthew M, Heaton 2008 A History of Nigeria. Cambridge: University Daly, M. Catherine, Joanne B. Eicherand Tonye Erekosima Press. 1986 Male and Female Artistry in Kalahari Dress. African Arts 19(31:48-51,83. Fitz, Arno Johannes 1985 Familie und Fruhindustrialisierung in Vorarlberg. Dasylva, O. Ademola Vorarlberg in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Vol. 2. 1999 Classificatory Paradigms in African Oral Narrative. Dornbirn: Vorarlberger Verlagsanstalt. ISESE Monograph Series 1(1). Fitz, Reinhold Denzer, LaRay 1976 Die Stickereiindustrie Vorarlbergs mit Lustenau als 1994 Yoruba Women: A Historiographical Study. Zentrum. Dissertation. University of Vienna. The International Journal of African Historical Studies 27(1): 1-39. Fitz, Ulrich 1947 Die Vorarlberger Stickereiindustrie und ihr Export. Drewal, Henry John Dissertation. University of Vienna. 1979 Pageantry and Power in Yoruba Costuming. In-. Justine M. Cordwell and R. A. Schwarz leds.), Frobenius, Leo The Fabricsof Culture. The Hague: Mouton 1912 Und Afrika sprach.. Erster Band. Auf den Trummern Publishers, 189-230. des klassischen Atlantis. Berlin: Vita Deutsches Verlagshaus. Drewal, John Henry und Margaret Thompson Drewal 1990 Gelede: Art and Female Power Among the Yoruba. Gardi, Bernhard Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 2005 Boubou c'est chic. Gewanderaus Mali undanderen Landern Westafrikas. Basel: Museum der Kulturen Drewal, Margaret and Christoph Merian Verlag. 1992 Yoruba Ritual: Play, Performance. Agency. 2009 Raffiniert und Schon. Textilien aus Westafrika. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Basel: Museum der Kulturen and Christoph Merian Vertag. Echeruo, MichaelUNIVERSITY J. C. OF IBADAN LIBRARY 1977 Victorian Lagos: Aspects of Nineteenth Century Gerlich, Gabriele Lagos Life. London: Macmillan. 2005 Waxprmts im souokutturellen Kontext Ghanas. Arbeitspapiere Nr. 54: Institut fur Ethnologie Eicher, Joannes B. (ed.l und Afrikastudien, Johannes Gutenberg- 1995 Dress and Ethnicity. Change Across Space and Time. Universitat Mainz. Oxford and Washington: Berg. Gillow, John Jackson George 2003 African Textiles. Colour and Creativity Across 1971 The Devolution of the Jubilee Designs. In: Barbour a Continent. London: Thames & Hudson. Jane und Simmonds Diog (ed.l, Adire Clothes in Nigeria (institute of African Studies, University Hall. Stuart and Paddy Whannel of Ibadan], 1964 The Popular Arts. London.- Hutchinson. Johnson, Marion Hampel, Lucie 1980 Cloth as Money: the Cloth Strip Currencies of Africa. 1969 Von der Handstickerei zur Vorarlberger Stickerei- In: Dale Idiens and K. G. Ponting leds.], Textiles of industrie. Lenzinger Berichte (Wien. Modesamm- Africa (Bath: The Pasold Research Fund]: 193-202. lungen im Schloss Hetzendorfl: 72-87. Johnson, Rev. Samuel Hansen, Karen Tranberg 1957 The History of the Yorubas. From the Earliest 2004 The World in Dress: Anthropological Perspectives [1921] Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate. on Clothing, Fashion, and Culture. Annual Review Lagos: C.M.S. Bookshop. of Anthropology 33: 369-392. Joseph, A. Richard Heathcote, David 1991 Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: 1972 Hausa Embroidered Dress. African Arts 5121: The Rise and Fall of the Second Republic. Ibadan 12-19,82,84. and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1976 The Arts of the Hausa. World ot Islam Publishing. Jurkowitsch, Silke and Alexander Sarlay 2009 Zukunftspapier zum Projekt ..Entdecken von Vor Heinzle, Oliver arlberger Stickereien in Westafrika". Grundlagen- 2008 Lustenauer Atttag in den langen 50er Jahren - dokumentation fur nachhaltige Wirtschaftsstra- Eine Konzeption der Ausstellung mit Vorstellung tegien und Fundament fur weitere Projekte. der Schwerpunkte. In.- Marktgemeinde Lustenau Feldkirch: Wirtschaftskammer Vorarlberger (ed.l, Vespa, Petticoat und Kofferradio. Lustenau in Stickereiwirtschaft. den langen 50er Jahren! Exhibition Catalogue. Lustenau. Historisches Archiv. Kent, Rachel 2008 Time and Transformation in the Art of Yinka Hobsbawm, Eric and Terence Ranger Shonibare MBE. In: Yinka Shombare MBE 2009 The Invention of Tradition. 17th ed. Cambridge (New York: Prestel), 12. [1983] University Press. Krapf-Askari, Eva Hodder, B. W. 1966 Time and Classifications - An Ethnographic and 1980 Indigenous Cloth Trade and Marketing in Historical Case Study. Odu 2(2), January: 3-18. Africa. In: Dale Idiens and K. G. Ponting leds.), Textiles of Africa (Bath: The Pasold Research Kriger, Colleen E. Fund), 201-210. 2006 Cloth in Wesf African History. Lanham, New York: Altamira Press. Hodkewitsch, Elisabeth 1991 Die sozialen Aspekte in der Vorarlberger Stickerei- Van der Laan. Laurens H. industrie ab dem Ende des 78. Jahrhunderts bis 1914. 1983 A Swiss Firm in West Africa: A. Brunnschweiter Diplomarbeit,UNIVERSITY University of Vienna. OF IBADAN& Co., 1929-1959. AfricanLIBRARY Economic History 12: 287-297. Hoggart, Richard 1984 The Uses of Literacy. Middlesex: Penguin Langle, Elisabeth Books. 2004 Vorarlberg stickt fur die Wett. Wien: Christian Brandstatter. LaGamma, Alisa and Christine Giuntini Menzel, Brigitte 2009 The Essential Art of African Textiles. Design without 1972 Textilien aus Westafrika. Vol. II. Veroffentlichungen End. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art and des Museums fur Volkerkunde Berlin. Yale University Press. Microsoft Encarta Lamb, Venice and Judy Holmes 2008 Microsoft Corporation 1993-2007. 1980 Nigerian Weaving. Roxford. Murorunkwere, Jeanne d'Arc Law. Robin 2002 Vorarlberger Stickereien uriter besonderer 1986 Early European Sources Relating to the Kingdom Berucksichtigung der Exportbeziehungen zu of Ijebu (1500-17001: A Critical Survey. History in Afrika. Unpubl. Diss. Graz: Karl-Franzens- Africa 13: 245-260. Universitat. Lawuyi, Olatunde Bayo Mustafa, Hudita Nura 1991 The Social Marketing of Elites: The Advertised 1998 Sartorial Ecumenes: African Styles in a Social Self in Obituaries and Congratulations in Some and Economic Context. In: Els van der Plas and Nigerian Dailies. Africa: Journal of the International Marlous Willemsen (eds.j, The Art of African Fashion African Institute 6112): 247-263. (Trenton, NJ, and The Hague: Africa World Press und Prince Claus Fund), 13-45. Layiwola, Dele (ed.) 1999 A Handbook of Methodology in African Studies. Nachtigal, Gustav Ibadan-. John Archers. 1879 Sahara und Sudan. Ergebnisse sechsjahriger Reisen in Afrika. Erster Theil. Berlin: Leach, Edmund Weidmannscher Buchhandel. 1996 Culture and Communication. New York: Cambridge University Press. Nagele, Hans 1947 Die Vorarlberger Textilindustrie. Vienna: Luttmann, llsemargret Bindenschild-Verlag. 2000 Globatisierung versus afrikanische Identitaten: 1949 Das Textilland Vorarlberg. Dornbirn: Mode und Kleidungsverhalten in afrikanischen Vorarlberger Verlagsanstait. Stadten. Tribus 49: 119-154. 2005 Mode in Afrika. Mode als Mittel der Setbstinszeme- Nagele, Hans and Rudolf Hagen rung und Ausdruck der Moderne. Hamburg: 1961 Lustenauer Heimatbuch. Beitrage zur Heimat- Museum fur Volkerkunde. kunde. Vol. II. Lustenau, der Sitz der oster- reichischen Stickerei-lndustrie. Lustenau. Magnin, Andre VBG Buchdruckerei. 2000 J.D. Okhai Ojeikere Photographs. Zurich, Berlin, New York: Scalo and Fondation Cartier pour Negri, Eve de Tart contemporain. 1962a Yoruba Women's Costume. Nigeria Magazine 72:5-12. Mennel, Lucia 1962b Yoruba Men's Costume. Nigeria Magazine 73: 4-12. 2009 Im alten Krumbacher Adler erhoben sich die Weiber annoUNIVERSITY 1807. In: Georg Sutterluty (ed.), OFNielsen, IBADAN Ruth LIBRARY Bregenzerwald Lesebuch. Einblicke in die Talschaft 1979 The History and Development of Wax-Printed an derAch IDornbirn: Unartproduktion). Textiles Intended for West Africa and Zaire. In: Justine M. Cordwell and Ronald A. Schwarz (eds.), Mentges, Gabriele led.) The Fabrics of Culture. The Anthropology of Clothing 2004 Kutturanthropologie des Textilen. Bamberg: and Adornment (The Hague, Paris, New York: Edition Ebersbach. Mouton Publishers), 467-497. Okediji, Moyo Reikat, Andrea 1991 The Naked Truth: Nude Figures in Yoruba Art. 1997 Handelsstoffe. Grundzuge des europaisch-westatri- Journal of Black Studies 2211 ], African Aesthetics in kanischen Handels vor der industriellen Revolution Nigeria and the Diaspora, Sage Publications: 30-44. am Beispiel der Textilien. Studien zur Kulturkunde 105. Cologne: Rudiger Kdppe Verlag. Ortner, Erich 2009 Westafrika neu entdecken. Vorarlberger Nach- Renne, Elisha P. richten. Markt. Wednesday, 1 April: Markt D 4. 1997 ..Traditional Modernity " and the economics of Handwoven Cloth Production-in Southwestern Oyelola, Pat Nigeria. Economic Development and Cultural 2010 Nigerian Artistry. Ibadan: Mosuro Publishers. Change 45(4): 773-792, 2004 From Khaki to Agbada: Dress and Political Transi Pennell, Elizabeth Robins tion in Nigeria. In: Jean Allman [ed.l, Fashioning 1927 For Fashion's Sake. The North American Review Africa. Power and the Politics of Dress (Bloomington 224(8361:392. and Indianopolis: Indiana University Press), 125-143. Perani Judith Rood, Leslie L. 1985 West African Men's Weaving. West African 1976 Nationalisation and Indigenisation in Africa. The Textiles: 24-25. Journal of Modern African Studies 14(3): 427-447. Perani, Judith and Norma H. Wolff Rovine, Victoria L. 1999 Cloth. Dress and Art Patronage in Africa. 2009 Viewing Africa through Fashion. Fashion Theory Oxford, New York: Berg. 1312); 133-140. Picton, John Ryder, Alan F. C. 1995 Technology, Tradition and Lurex: The Art of Textiles 1969 Benin and the Europeans 1485-1897. London and in Africa. In: John Picton (ed.l, The Art of African Harlow: Longmans. Textiles. Technology, Tradition and Lurex (London: Lund Humphries Publishers), 9-30. Schaedler, Karl-Ferdinand 2001 Colonial Pretense and African Resistance, or Sub 1987 Die Weberei in Afrika sudlich der Sahara. version Subverted: Commemorative Textiles in Munich: Panterra Verlag. Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Okwui Enwezor (ed.), The Short Century. Independence and Liberation Schaffler, Irma Movements in Africa 1945-1994 (Munich, London, 2006 Erinnerungen an die Stickerei Made in Austria. New York: Prestel): 159-162. Bregenzerwald-Heft. Heimatpflegeverein Bregen- 2004 What to Wear in West Africa: Textile Design, Dress zerwald. Dornbirn. Vorarlberger Verlagsanstalt 20, and Self-Representation. In: Carol Tulloch (ed.), 2006: 101-108. Black Style iLondon: V & A Publishers), 22-47. Schallert, Ferdinand Picton John and Mack John 1965 Die uberbatrieblichen Umgliederungen in der Vorarl 1979 African Textiles. Looms, Weaving and Design. berger Stickereiwirtschaft und deren Auswirkungen London: British Museum Publication Ltd. aufdie Struktur der Betriebe. Dissertation. Vienna: Hochschule fur Welthandel. Rabine, Leslie UNIVERSITYW. OF IBADAN LIBRARY 2002 The Global Circulation of African Fashion. Scheffknecht, Wolfgang Oxford and New York: Berg. 2003 W0 Jahre Marktgemeinde Lustenau 1902 bis 2002. Fine Chronik. Lustenau. Buchdruckerei Raji-Oyelade, Remi Lustenau GmbH. 1999 Postproverbials in Yoruba Culture: A Playful Blas phemy. Research in African Literature 30(1): 74 -82.