A-ARTs: Lagos converges indigenous textiles from Europe, Africa

A section of the Òwú. Fil. Faden. Thread. exhibition at CCA, Lagos.

By Ola Alowoloke

AFTER Vorarlberg, in Austria; Dakar, Senegal; and Lagos, Nigeria hosted the making of quilt from October 2024 to April 2025, the completed work emerged as a traveling exhibition.

Currently in Nigeria, the quilt Òwú. Fil. Faden. Thread., which opened on 29 October 2025 at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA Lagos), 9 McEwen Street, Yaba, showing till the end of the year also featured workshop and Art Talk.

Mounted in five sections, on the third floor of the CCA gallery space, the quilt tell history of indigenous fabrics, across cultures. Participating artists include Anette Baldauf, Milou Gabriel, Sasha Huber, Janine Jembere, Susanna Delali Nuwordu, Abiona Esther Ojo, Jumoke Sanwo, Mariama Sow, and Katharina Weingartner.

For the Lagos show, lace as an iconic fabric features among several other materials such as aso-oke, adire sewed together to form a piece with others from different cultures outside Nigeria. One of the artists, Sanwo, who guided visitors through the exhibit noted quite a number of historical situation that makes the lace iconic in Lagos. She recalled that lace was so popular at a time in Lagos such that the first publicly executed armed robber, Babatunde Folorunsho requested that he be allowed to die wearing lace clothings.

While lace is not exactly indigenous to Nigeria, being of largely imported materials, with perhaps few foreign-owned factories in Nigeria, the story of aso-oke is different. Sanwo stated that the project also pays tribute to the hub of aso-oke, in the famous Oje Market, Ibadan, Oyo State, Southwest Nigeria, where the indigenous fabrics are sold. The essence of the project and exhibition, she reiterated, "is to preserve our indigenous fabrics, whether they are aso oke, in Nigeria, or manjak from Senegal."

Still on paying tribute, the Lagos exhibition acknowledges quite some individuals whose careers touched the lace stories of Nigeria. Such individuals include HRH Abiola Dosunmu Erelu Kuti IV, Shade Thomas-Fahm, Rudi Bösch (1953-2025), Ireti Bakare Yusuf, Adeboye Martins, Alhaja Mutiat Peju Animashaun, Alhaja (Chief), Samiat Abimbola Solebo (d.2023), Alhaja Adekoya, Emmy Kasbit -Daniel Olurin/ Emmanuel Okoro, Ed Keazor, Frances Ore Markus Riedmann, and Alhaja Toyin Shitta.

The lace fabric of Nigerian trajectory include the story of Austrian town, Lustenau, famous for its embroidery. Such embroidery is considered a luxury product in Nigeria. The Vorarlberg textile industry exports tons of embroidered damask to West Africa.

About two weeks after the opening of Òwú. Fil. Faden. Thread., textile artist, Yusuf Sani Said led the Tie-dying workshop inside the same space of the exhibition, at CCA. Based in Kaduna, northwest of Nigeria, Said demonstrated hand, wooden, and needle techniques in the art of the and dying. The Lagos participating audience at the workshop included tie and dye enthusiasts and secondary school art students.

In one of the demonstrations, Said started with folding the fabric, passing needle underneath into the middle of the folded fabric and tie the needle from the other end with thread. He told his audience that to achieve a great depth of aesthetics, the process should be repeated until the entire fabric is covered.

Artist, Yusuf Sani Said demonstrating tie and dye techniques at CCA, Lagos.

In another technique, Said applied different object, and noted that "for different designs, you can put any object under the fabric before tying." He demonstrated with cowry shell, for example, which he explained that the outcome won't give the cowry pattern, but will generate the design of a crab.

He also demonstrated how to make designs in tie and dye by simply folding a fabric in multiple of layers. "That's with indigo, using a wooden divider to bring out the desired designs." And also, the drawing technique on the fabric, using already shaped objects to outline the shapes on the fabric.

The workshop also featured an interactive sessions, of which the participants, including students from Lagos City College, Sabo, Yaba, expanded their enthusiasm for tie and dye art.

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