Issues in African Art And Architecture

The Aso Olona clothes of the Ijebu Yoruba are one of the most renowned Yoruba women's weaving traditions. These beautiful complex patterned textiles were not only created for use by the Ogboni Elder society ( called Oshugbo in Ijebu) but were important markers of chieftaincy and valued trade items exported to other communities both within and outside of Yorubaland. (Above)Indigo and White Aso Olona cloth Aso Olona (Cloth with patterns, Literally cloth that possesses art) is one of many diverse area-specific textiles made using the upright continuous warp loom. The cloth is most noted as part of the regalia of the Oshugbo elder society. This initiation society is closely associated with the worship of the earth goddess Ile. Through their connection with Ile, who is the arbiter of both life and death, it is Ogboni/Oshugbo that facilitates, orders, and permits the spilling of human blood, in adition to rites and rituals deeply tied to royal authority. The symbolism of Aso Olon...

The upright loom weaving traditions of southern Nigeria are some of the most important textile traditions of the African continent. The cotton, Raffia, silk, and bast fiver textiles associated with this tradition played crucial roles in the commercial, social, and political histories of west and west-central Africa. The women ( and rarely men) who wove and traded these textiles were at the center of this history. Weaving was a common craft and industry among the Yoruba, Igbo, Edo, Ebira, Igala, Nupe, and Other ethnicities across Nigeria before the turn of the 20th century. As late as mid 20th century, the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers ( what is now Kogi State) was a region renowned for producing such cloths. The Yoruba, Northern Edo, Akoko, Ebira, and Igala women in the area wove various textiles for domestic use, trade, and as essential parts of puberty, age-grade, and marriage rituals. Numerous village-specific cloths were at the heart of ritual and social life throu...

During the mid 13th century, the earliest “complex” stratified culture appeared in southern Africa. In the Limpopo valley of what is now South Africa and Zimbabwe. Agro-pastoral eastern Bantu peoples created a string of settlements starting as early as the 4th century C.E. The increase in east African/Indian ocean trade in the 10th century contributed to a build-up of wealth. This is believed to have driven the development of the Mapungubwe/great Zimbabwe cultural complex. Elaborate dry stone architecture is one of the hallmarks of the various kingdoms associated with this civilization. Early sites are also known for elaborate pottery, and from at least the 10th century, the ancestors of the Mapungubwe peoples were refashioning and exporting imported glass beads. Sites associated with this culture also contain ceramic spindle whorls. This is the earliest evidence of cotton spinning and thus spun textile production in southern Africa, part of understudied, but once-vibrant tradition. ...