By Tajudeen Sowole
Aso-Oke, a portrait by Tunde Owolabi. |
Indigenous to the Yoruba nation - a people
spread across southwest Nigeria, part of Republic of Benin and Togo - aso oke is a cotton-woven fabric made
from native textile loom and widely worn at social gatherings. It comes in awe (strips) from the looms and later
pieced together according to the pattern or designs. Its origin is not exactly
documented, but the popularity of the fabric, perhaps over the past 100 years
or more has moved from elitist and royal use to the common people. In fact, it
appears that aso-oke is the only
surviving African native, perhaps ancient fabric in this part of the continent.
For
Owolabi's Aso Oke – The Woven Beauty, the story transcends fabric as the images exude fashion statements
that are timeless yet native in content. In Yoruba fashion space, styles such
as four-piece female of iro
(wrapper), buba (blouse) and ipele (shawl) with the gele accessory (headgear) as well as the
male agbada (robe), buba and, dansiki (baggy shirts), sokoto
(trouser) and fila (cap accessory) are
synonymous with aso-oke since the
past century. And despite modern and contemporary fashion raves that brought
imported fabrics such as lace and Dutch wax (ankara), aso-oke has remained
resilient. This much a photography piece inside the immediate entrance at Red Door
Gallery explains in a semi-monochrome, brown-toned portrait. In a combined oleku-styled aso-oke with lace as buba
and aso-oke as gele, the brownish portrait complements the colour of the aso-oke in a composite that technically derives
strength from the creative lighting.
Processed
images of portraits such as How Do I Look
series and Oge emphasis the gele headdress in colour over monochrome
skins of the models. Also, paintings such as Oloye Akintola, ‘To Match’, Flence
and Sanyan bring onto the canvas some of the different names that the diverse
textures of aso-oke fabric have been
christened.
The
strength of Owolabi's show lies in the documentary texture of the concept. For
example, the atmospheric sound of weaving process from the wooden tools,
captured as the looms replicate the ambience of a profession that has become an
industry for some communities over several generations. Adding to the enactment
of the loom atmosphere is a sculptural piece lifted from the site in Iseyin
onto the floor at Red Door Gallery.
"Aso-oke is 100 percent Nigerian,"
Owolabi says to the only visitor during a chat at Red Door, a few days after
the opening of the exhibition. His initial interest, he discloses, was the aso-ebi culture, which further took him
to the Yoruba native female headdress fashion, gele. The gele, he says,
"made me more curious and led to my research on aso-oke”. The video documentary shown on a TV screen inside the
gallery explains the extensive work of Owolabi on aso-oke, as it features the main aso-oke weavers who are concentrated in Iseyin, a town in Oyo
State, southwest Nigeria.
Owolabi
motes, "The dynamism with which aso
oke has evolved over time" from the native content and to the current
stage. The weaving process, he adds,
"is an art that leaves no gender out of the fun and experience".
As much
as aso-oke has become so popular
across many other cultures outside its Yoruba origin, the threat of losing its
originality have long been dismissed. For example, about 20 or more years ago,
an attempt to modernise it with mass production, which came with the introduction
of glittering materials was not so successful. The traditional weaving was
later improved on with introduction of a wider awe. While the smaller awe is
still very popular, the wider one is equally widely used for agbada and fila. In fact, the most popular fabric for couples at traditional
weddings of Nigerian origin - home and in the Diaspora - is the wider awe.
Owolabi was born in Lagos, and studied
painting under the tutelage of Professor Abayomi Barber, a renowned Nigerian
artist at the University of Lagos. He obtained a degree in Graphic Design from
Yaba College of Technology. After his degree, Owolabi became a freelance
artist, a journey that led him to develop a keen interest in photography. He
went on to study photography and photo retouching at the University of the Arts,
London. He worked as a designer at the research studios in London under Neville
Brody, a respected English graphic designer, typographer and art director.
When Owolabi returned to Nigeria in 2009, he
worked as an art director at Insight Communications, a Lagos-based advertising
agency. He left advertising in 2012, to start StudioMO. He now has Tunde
Owolabi Studios, and has since become a full time studio artist, specializing
in photographer and designer. He has participated in group exhibitions,
including Lines and Colours (2003), Inner Thoughts at Nimbus African Art
Centre (2004), Working with Communities,
a Guinness group exhibition (2004), and Gods
of This Age at Didi Museum.
His first solo exhibition, African Elegance was at the Battersea
Art Gallery, London (2009). His commissioned works can be found at the
Hungarian Embassy and Nigerian Stock Exchange. AsoOke - The Woven Beauty is his second solo exhibition.
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