'Why Market for Artistic Enterprise Is Borderless'

 

The Arts' viability, appreciation, development and advocacy attract the attention of renowned textile artist, Nike Okundaye-Davies in this interview with OLUDARE RICHARDS as she explains her role in promoting Nigerian art and the rich indigenous Yoruba fashion culture of Adire across the world.
THE artist traces the value of Adire, its History and Influence on Yoruba Culture, noting that the native Adire textile derives its name from "Adi (To Tie), 'Are' (To Dye), Adi-re (Tie and Dye)." She describes the cloth as fashion statement used to communicate in the days when women used to celebrate the 'Age Mate' Festival. Adire, she recalls, was used as a medium of communication among the ladies.


"The use of symbolism is natural in Adire fashion statements. Some of them include: Cycle of Life, Gecko, Tree of Life etc. These patterns are all meaningful especially in their lives. Once you see the patterns they are wearing, you know what it means. So Adire is not just mere fashion, it is communicative in nature, just like how the drums (Talking Drum) can be used to send messages or information. There is also a pattern called 'Talking Drum'.

"There are various kinds of Adire, we have the 'Ibadan Dun' (Ibadan Is Enjoyable); 'Olokun', the mother of baby fishes. Olokun is a symbol of fertility and is also a design in Adire that represents the sea goddess. 'Ori Mi Pe', represents Osogbo, 'Ilu Aro' (Land of the Dye Colors) depicting the indigenes assertion of position that says: 'We are not just doing the dyes, we have our heads in it, we do also Adire'. They say that because normally, the makers of Adire are not the makers of the Dyes, but Osogbo does both. That is why they call the design made in Osogbo 'Ori Mi Pe'.
 
"We have other kinds of Adire; 'Yotomi La Wa'; 'Owo Ati Omo Ni Mofe Be' (Its Money and Children I Want As Such). 'Yiyo Lon Yo', whose title is depicted by the after glow that follows the finishing of the dyed cloth Adire design. 'Kofo'orun' (Do Not Put It In The Sun!). 'Etu', used for the chieftaincy associated reasons. It reigned for quite some time. But as the nature of people are, they always want something new. Then a newer design came in vogue called 'Petuje' (This One Has Killed The Etu). Etu means Guinea Fowl. Guinea Fowl is an official requirement during chieftain cy installments.


"We also have 'Atari Ajanaku Kii Seeru Omode' (The Head Of An Elephant Is Not A Load A Child Can Carry). 'Oju Dii' (Tree of Life), depicting the proverb 'Only the mother of a child knows the father of the child'. 'Ashewo To Lo Mecca' (The Sex Worker That Went To Mecca), is a kind of Adire made by a former sex worker who made enough money from the trade to finance her Mecca pilgrimage.

"All the Adires have meaning. 'Mabaayo Mi Je Oluwa' (Don't Undo My Joy Oh Lord), 'Asiri Alaadire Kiin Tu' (The Secret of The Adire Will Never Leak Out). The Art of Adire is usually passed on from one generation to another; the Adire maker usually teach only their children and do not teach outsiders, so it stays in the family.

"This is an old tradition where families are reknown for their specialties, like the Hunters, Fishermen, Dyers, Clothiers, Drummers etc. They keep it in the family so the art can remain as their own identity. This has changed with the modern times, which is why the media plays an important role, because now, we want to teach the world."

Davies-Okundaye who has spent all her professional career promoting Adire stresses that Nigerians should take the lead in advocating for African traditions and art at home and in the Diaspora.
"My part in promoting indigenous art, especially the creativity part of it is to showcase our culture. Nigeria is a giant of Africa. Almost a quarter of Africans live in Nigeria. Over 180 million people.
There is so much to showcase from Nigeria. When the Oyinbo (white people) come to Nigeria, they want to stay. Whatever you plant here grows, even a dry stem.

"There is so much we can achieve in this country, that is why they come here and own all the businesses. We, who should be owners of these businesses have failed. We once use to export cocoa, from which chocolate is produced, used to be well exported from Nigeria. Also, Nigeria exported Palm Oil through the Niger Delta.
"We used to trade well with the Oyinbo. Palm Oil used to be high commodity in trade. There's so much creativity in this country. There are so much rich sources in Nigeria, resources abound here.


"Little by little, breakthrough is imminent in life. If you know what you are doing, you won't need any support from banks, you can support and promote yourself through marketing in the right way. We need the Media, this is true, but what about your character? Humility! Saying 'Thank You' goes a long way. When you make sales, say thank you to the buyer, he/she will come back again and buy more. Humility and honesty goes a long way.

"Humility and honesty should be very important to all Africans because they always think African people are not honest, which is not true. There are a lot of us who are very honest. We all should be good ambassadors of this country."

Having made success selling Nigerian art worldwide, she sees business viability in creativity to be necessary in Modern Art. "I tell you this: art is the only thing you can sell anywhere, all over the world. Art is even better than Oil because wherever you take an art piece to, you can sell it, unlike oil. The society decides the value of art. Art is priceless. Many artist's work are valued so high as much as in the millions, because they have added an African touch to it. For example, a Picasso art went for as much as four to five million dollars.

"We are the originators, we have it in-born in us. Many talents in art are in-born in the artist, but many artists don't discover themselves until someone discovers them. We have to always appreciate and make use of any talent we are good with and market ourselves in a good way."
For the artist who has benefitted so much drom the informal art training, giving back to the society through workshop comes with challenges.
 




"It has been a journey with ups and downs, but we thank God, most of the women that have trained with us have been able to progress, even building houses of their own. They have been able to earn a living through art, and their children also have benefited; many have been able to further in education through financial assistance from their mothers. And some of the mothers also have been able to acquire MFA in arts.

"It has been a great pleasure and I thank God for giving the gift of life and the opportunity to be able to see our own achievements and the fruits of our labor because the people we have taught are an achievement for us who have trained them as they also teach other people. Training the trainer. We even train in Abuja. Even the young ones who come become professionals. I have no cause to not say thank you because every life is a blessing everyday, a blessing to us from God.

" Maybe if I had been formally educated, I would not be alive today, yet I always encourage anyone who has the opportunity to be educated to do so because it will help you get better at whatever you choose to do besides the white collar jobs, even in the arts.

She recalls her years as members of the Osogbo school. "There were two female teachers during the Osogbo school period: Susanne Wenger and Georgina Beier. Ulli Beier was a writer. His wives were the teachers. When they started, they only taught men then but the credits went to Ulli Beier for all the work and teachings, even after I started.



 Published in The Guardian on 10th December 2014