NATIONAL ART COMPETITION (NAC) - LAGOS 2013

The National Art Competition is an annual art competition organised by African Artists' Foundation (AAF) and sponsored by Nigerian Breweries Plc.

Since its inception in 2008, the National Art Competition (NAC) has sought to unite artists and society through the interpretation of crucial themes proposed in each year's call for entries.

The Theme of the Competition was "Identity:Who do you think you are?"

I emerged one of the 12  Finalist in the competition and my work won the Most Outstanding Production Award.

The 12 finalist

Receiving the most outstanding production price, flanked by GM, NB and EL Anatsui

Arti-tude

A project presented by Victoria Udondian for NAC 2013

Introduction

“…Over the centuries and in countless ways, imported fabrics were thus assimilated into West African clothing traditions, becoming characteristic components of ethnic costumes that are commonly understood as ‘traditional clothing."   
Barbara Plankensteiner, in African Lace: A History of Trade, Creativity and Fashion in Nigeria

In Nigeria, where political conflicts are spurred by ethnic and cultural differences, identity becomes a weapon in a war of ideologies that frequently puts fashion on the battlefield.

Well before the nation’s independence, Nigerians—irrespective of political or ethnic leanings—imbibed a variety of fashion trends from within and outside their immediate geographical area to boost social status.

Drawing on the theme of —Identity: Who Do You Think You Are?

The Arti-tude project exposes the dynamics and complexities of Nigerian fashion as an identity across generations and cultures, as researched in archival documents and photos from key historical eras, and derived from Nigerian sartorial identities influenced by European and other foreign contacts with Africa.

As rich as Africa is in tradition, most fashions of the ancient period—if they truly existed—seem to have disappeared even before the arrival of the European colonial masters. What is regarded as traditional attire today in some cases are remnants of colonial influences, except in a few cases of ceremonial dresses that have embroideries of native tradition and narratives. For example, most of the fabrics used in the so-called traditional African attires are imported from Europe—which has, of late, been facing stiff market competition from the Far East—just as non-ceremonial conventional ways of dressing are heavily influenced by the West. Moreover, the influx of cheap second-hand clothing has further harmed the local textile industry. In totality, within the Nigerian context, “identity” from a clothing perspective in some cultures is more of a myth than a reality  useful in exciting traditionalists and cultural activists. 

In presenting Arti-tude, the culminating effect of imported fabrics and used clothes, which have crept into the dressing attitude of some sections of Nigeria, informs the collaging of ‘second-hand’ clothing culture as components of this body of work in satirical form to question individual identity of the ethnic nationalities.  

Articulated in a series of nine self-portraits, titled Ndise mmi (My portrait), the artist embodies the problem of identity, using her body as a starting point from which to interrogate ethnic identity across the Nigerian fashion landscape.

Victoria Udondian's covert burlesque work excavates and contextualizes the historical links to the peoples from the north to the west and south of Nigeria. “Fog of Colours” builds on this relationship between individual and collective identity via human sculptures  of different nationalities performing in hybridized garments, This further complexify the dialogue and implications of Nigerian traditional dress.

BRIEF HISTORY OF ETHNIC CLOTHING IN NIGERIA

Benin (South-south Nigeria)

A historical link between the Benin and Yoruba blurs the line of identity in the context of fashion. This much is noted in the 1897 picture of deposed Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi (1888-1914) wearing agbada, a garment widely accepted to be indigenous to the Yoruba. The picture is credited to an Ijaw photographer, Jonathan Adagogo Green (1873-1905).

A century later, Benin traditional attire worn by monarchs and chiefs included a one-piece long garment and gown-style design with a beaded necklace.  The gown and shirt designs were foreign in origin, made with imported fabrics.

Benin women: Extravagant use of beads, which are widely used in weddings, makes Benin traditional fashion distinct in Nigeria’s cultural identity space. The Igbebe (beaded wrapper) worn with setting of the beads to represent blouse in ornamental forms as well as okuku (beaded headdress) are indeed the unique features of Benin women.

Given that this kind of dressing is worn as ceremonial attire, the absence of a clearly defined Benin identity in everyday dress creates a vacuum in which imported and used clothing are able to intrude and thrive.  

Coral beads have become a sort of Benin identity in modern day Nigeria. There are two kinds of beads, namely  ivie and ekan.

Oral tradition sources credit the 15th Century Oba Ewuare with bringing the coral beads to Benin.

Oba Ewuare’s trade relationship with the Portuguese and Spaniards gave him unparalleled access to the beads, which occur naturally as marine organisms that grow mostly in the Mediterranean and Far East. One source alleges that the Oba stole them from the goddess of the Sea at Ughoton that the Benin people considered a gateway to Europe at the time.

Having adopted the coral beads as an integral part of the people’s culture and tradition since then, a class system developed categorized by who wore the ivie and ekan, in shapes or sizes determined by the Oba of Benin, and who did not. This was reflected in the use of beads as ornaments or embroidery in ceremonial fashion designs, which most likely began evolving after the first decade of the 20th Century, as suggested by archival pictures of Benin royal women.

For example, the deposed Oba Ovonramwen’s family portraits pre- and post-1897 depict his wives in European gowns with long beads as ornaments or embroidery. In fact, the Oba himself adorned the ring size as worn by today’s royal personalities. More recently, Benin has seen a rising influx of cheap, plastic faux-coral beads from China, further altering this traditional practice.

Traditional Benin day-to-day dress, either in ancient or contemporary times, has not been clearly established. As in most African countries, Western influence in fabrics and designs are common; for example, like most other ethnic nationalities in Southern Nigeria, Benin mens’ daily wear of Western male shirts over wrappers dates back to the colonial era and persists till date.

However, their historical or ancestral link with the Yoruba fosters the common wear, among Benin people, of the former’s three-piece outfit of buba, agbada, and sokoto for men and buba, iro, and ipele for women.

For Benin people—and perhaps, by extension, Edo people in general—adopting European-style dresses as “traditional Benin” wear calls into question the true identity of the people.

'Ndise mmi'-­‐ Benin traditional attire 2013

0. Benin dress: Igbebe (beaded wrapper) Materials: Used T-­‐shirt Okuku (beaded headdress)
    Materials: Used headwear,hairnet and coral beads

Calabar: The Efik and Ibibio (South-South Nigeria)

Efik

In the mid-19th Century, after the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was abolished, the Efik people continued to retain a strong connection with Europe. This explains the Efik’s Western-style dress culture.

But like the Benin people, traditional native dressing of the Efiks is pronounced in ceremonial attires, particularly for the females. The females dress as royals, with embroideries carefully displayed in long, flowing gowns popularly known as oyoyon. This Victorian-style dress, in most cases, has been reduced or modified to a moderate level according to individual tastes. However, what seems to be consistent for an Efik bride is the hairstyle called eting, in which the bride’s hair, arranged in a long braid down the back, was decorated with a series of brass combs. This hairstyle slightly differs between the first daughter and her younger sisters. At 21 brass combs long, eting adiaha, or the first daughter’s hairdo, is much longer than that of her younger sisters, which are typically 18 brass combs in length. This is mainly to emphasize the importance of the first daughter’s position in the Efik culture.

Just as the people’s fattening-room culture–a process of adding weight to a bride’s body–has given way to liberal and contemporary behavior, so has the oyoyon attire. The Efik people’s Victorian-like long gown is traced to their early exposure to Europeans during the slave trade and colonial eras.

Body painting of the Efik:

The art of body painting with ndom, or clay, among the Efik people is a symbol of purity, affection and love. From being an individual expression in the past, the native art of body painting has become a symbol of identity among families.

For example, body painting is used to celebrate the arrival of a new baby into a family. And during rites of passage, a painted face indicates initiation into a socio-cultural group of women.

'Ndise Mmi'-­‐ Efik ethnic dress

Calabar dress:Damask(embroidered fabric):used underwear,satin fabric Essang (Brass staff) 

Eting Adiaha (the first daughter’s hairdo): synthetic woven hair, brass combs 

Ibibio

Ibibio women’s attire has evolved from the topless gown of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, leaving the chest bare beneath a partial covering of crisscrossed beads, as seen in an archive picture of an Ibibio bride wearing an Abang skirt (c. 1910).

In the Ibibio tradition, the custom of bare breast adornment has evolved to incorporate more decorative ornaments, as is also the case among the Efik, who share a similar culture and tradition.

More recently, similar to the Igbo of Southeast Nigeria, Ibibio women customarily wear ofong isin, or a double wrapper, with a lace blouse of varied style accompanied by a gele, while men wear a western shirt and wrapper with bowler hat.

'Ndise Mmi' - Ibibio Wedding dress c.1910

'Ndise Mmi' - Ibibio Wedding dress c.1910 

 Ibibio dress: Abang skirt.  Materials: Used underwear, Dutch printed fabric (Ankara), bamboo underwear, Itam Nkwa (beaded headdress) Materials: Used head warmer, beads Beaded,cane & raffia necklaces,anklet & bangles 

Hausa/Fulani (Northern regions of Nigeria)

A Fulani or Hausa man of Northern Nigeria dresses in babariga, a wide garment like the agbada. But among the Fulani or Hausa woman, elaborate earrings have become a common sartorial identity imbibed from contemporary pop culture.

Ear and nose piercings that place earrings as the focus of attention

 are most peculiar to Fulani or Hausa women’s typical ornamental dressing.

Indeed, the Fulani and Hausa women were ahead of today’s fashion when it comes to earrings, as suggests by archival pictures dating back more than a century. For example, a 1910 picture of three Fulani girls of Senegalese descent shows their typical body ornaments.

But in Islamic hijab dress—characterized by a long booboo that nearly covers a wrapper, worn along with a moderate scarf or elaborate cover—the Fulani/Hausa woman seems to have found a kind of identity. More common depictions of Hausa/Fulani maidens; found in Nigerian media, arts and cultural displays; make use of a jumpy blouse and knee-length wrapper or skirt sewn in calico material, which has been taken as a typical fashion among Hausa and Fulani women. In reality, the history of this jumpy blouse fashion is not well established.

For men, the cap—either a small, dome-like, machine- or factory-made style; or one of two typical hand-woven designs called kube — is worn to complete the babariga style of dress differentiates the Hausa/Fulani man from a Yoruba man whose agbada is much like the former’s garment.

Accessories

Among the pronounced features of the Hausa/Fulani socio-cultural outlook is the kwarya, or calabash-dried gourd.

Akin to its diverse names, carvings and usages across cultures— particularly as a container in domestic or farm chores—the calabash is known to have existed more than 4000 years ago in Africa.

For the Hausa/Fulani, cultural activities are not complete without the kwarya featuring prominently in colourful designs.  Sustaining the kwarya in the socio-economic sphere has been a challenge, however, given the rise in imported plastic, metal and ceramic products that both replace and endanger use of the traditional gourd containers. 

Ndise mmi - Hausa/Fulani dressJumpy blouse and wrapperMaterials: Used mens underwear, calico material, used blouse, beads, kwarya (calabash) and acrylic

Igbo (Southeast Nigeria)

Fashion as a form of identity in Igbo land cuts across the genders, but in ladies’ dressing, the people’s identity is stronger. The Igbo blouse/double wrapper fashion is composed of a western blouse worn under a two-piece cotton fabric usually wrapped around the waist.

Origin: Sources say in Igbo culture, a single akwa ukwu, or wrapper, for women is meant for indoor or casual dressings. For major outings, she is expected to add a second wrapper, which makes it akwa ukwu abuo.

The 1950s saw the emergence of the complete Igbo blouse worn with akwa ukwu, which likely started as a single cloth robed on a simple blouse, often sleeveless, commonly worn among women of various cultures and classes as depicted in archival pictures of the period.

For example, in a photograph of a non-Igbo Lagosian family, two women wear the simple blouse and wrapper with scarves. A 1961 portrait of Lagos women posing with a visiting Indian envoy shows, among 

Nigerian women in buba and iro, two ladies in sleeveless blouses and single wrappers.

What looks like the earliest occurrence of the sleeved blouse and double wrapper in Nigerian fashion, according to archival photographs, appeared shortly before the country’s independence circa the late 1950s. This picture shows a woman in the full Ibo blouse and double wrapper photographed with work colleagues during an end of year party at the Ministry of External Affairs, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, 1960.While the culture of wrapping cloth with different materials to cover the body cuts across cultures, particularly in Nigeria, the popular akwa ukwu called  George styled with western blouse raises questions about the degree of native or indigenous content in Igbo women’s sartorial identity, similar to the  Igbo man’s big shirt worn over trousers. To justify these wears as “traditional Ibo” fashion complicates the issue of true indigenous contents in African fashion.

Fabrics: From the female blouse and akwa ukwu to the male big shirt, the non-indigenous contents are too pronounced to ignore. In fact, the popular name for the double wrapper is “George.” Who exactly is George?  Where did the name come from?

                                                   Ndise mmi - Igbo dressAkwa Ukwu Abuo (double wrapper), Igbo blouse and gele (head dress)
Materials: George fabric, embroidered lace fabric, used burlap and beaded necklace

Yoruba (Southwest Nigeria)

Arguably one of the oldest, perhaps, few surviving African native designs, is the Yoruba three-piece dressings for both male and female: the buba-iro-ipele-gele, or female blouse- wrapper-headdress-shawl, and buba-agbada-sokoto-gobi, or male big shirt-garment-trousers-cap. These designs comprise a significant fashion identity for the Yoruba, based in southwest Nigeria.     

Origin: According to archival photographs of royal families dating back to the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, these indigenous traditional wears evolved from the agbada and sokoto with gobi to the current three-piece complete dressing.  In this way, this style of dress is not known to have been imported, though the blouse may have been indirect link to European fashions.

For example, pictures of His Royal Highness, Oba Gbedebo-I, (1898-1920) and a 1904 studio portrait taken of Ladapo Ademola in London—who later became the Alake of Egbaland after Gbadebo—show each of the men in the two-piece-regalia of agbada and sokoto with gobi, but without the buba. In fact, a long-sleeve shirt of Western design was worn in place of the buba in several photographs. If indeed the inner buba for male existed then, why would Yoruba elites, as custodians of their culture, wear a Western shirt beneath agbada?

 Alake of Egbaland (London, 1904) 

Gbedebo-1 

 Alake of Egbaland (London,) 

Female: buba, iro and ipele (shawl) with gele (headdress)The buba began replacing the Western style shirt likely in the late 1920s or early 1930s, though more research is needed to confirm this.

Origin: Like the male three-piece, the female dressing is also indigenous to the Yoruba people. Curiously, photographs of monarchs such as the Alakes of Egba and others dating back more than one century ago hardly show Yoruba women dressed elaborately at ceremonial public events with the kings. But that subservience seems to have been broken in the early part of the last century, as suggested by a group photograph of His Royal Highness Samuel Ademola II, the 7th Alake of Abeokuta, featuring his daughter in what looks like the three-piece buba, iro and ipele complete with gele. The picture was taken in London in the 1920s.

Nevertheless, identity as an issue continues to resonate in the texture of gele that the Yoruba woman wears. While the Yoruba woman takes the credit for lifting the common headscarf or casual woman head wears to an elaborate art piece known today as gele, the foreign and imported fabric used in fashioning this piece challenges the notion of its African authenticity.  Damask, an imported fabric, which is the most common choice for gele across cultures in Nigeria, clearly throws up the issue of identity.

Also the Yoruba three-piece for male and female, worn by people across class and status is no longer the exclusive of the royals—either as everyday or ceremonial dressings.

Fabrics: The fabrics were mostly in the native hand-woven aso-oke or etu and adire for nearly half of the last century.  But amidst that, imported fabrics were highly sought after in wool, Dutch wax prints known as Ankara, and later from the late 1960s to 70s, Swiss and Austrian lace brands were in vogue. Interestingly, the aso-oke, till date, is still used mostly at weddings in its various names, such as alaari and sanyan.

                                                     Ndise mmi - Yoruba wear
                Buba-agbada-sokoto-gobi (male big shirt-garment-trousers-cap)
     Materials: printed fabric, piece from used shirt and pants, Rubelli fabric and bead necklace

The o leku iro and buba trend and youth appeal:

A mini version of iro and buba emerged on the fashion scene in the 1970s, when Western mini skirts were in vogue, perhaps to bolster the presence of traditional Yoruba wear among young ladies . It was known then as o leku, meaning incredible. After more than thirty years of o leku’s absence from the fashion scene, it experienced a resurgence on the fashion scene in 2010. But this time, it included the male version–a mini buba and tighter sokoto or soro trouser for the male, helping the wears attain popular appeal among 21^st Century Yoruba youths and beyond.

O leku iro and buba
Materials: embroidered lace fabric, pieces from used T-shirt, Aso-oke
Materials: Hand woven, used shirt scraps

Yoruba clothing accessories:

Fila caps for men include two types known as gobi and abetiaja.  The gobi is usually oval-shaped and elongated upward, standing erect. It is made in flexible fabric such that the wearer can bend it in different directions to create styles. In fact, each style–right or left and front or back–has a different meaning. Sources say a gobi directed to the right reflects a happy mood in the wearer, while the left suggests a bad mood.  The abetiaja cap, as the name suggests, is designed to depict dog-like ears on the wearer.  

Ndise mmi - Female agbada
Materials: Used jeans, used underwear, beaded necklace

Note: The traditional dress of the Egba royal monarchs was used as a reference for Yoruba fashion, since these Abeokuta indigenes have older archival photographs compared to the most revered monarchy of the Oyo. Given that the Egba people were the earliest to interact with European missionaries, however, it is a mistake to infer that the native Yoruba dressings originated from the Egba people.

Having popularized foreign fabrics such as lace, the Dutch wax print known as ankara and damask, to the detriments of the Yoruba aso-oke and adire, the people have the uphill task of rescuing the native textile from extinction. But within the Nigerian context, the gele fashion trend is blurring cultural divides.

References

Plankensteiner, Barbara and Nath Mayo Adediran. African Lace: A History of Trade, Creativity and Fashion in Nigeria. Ghent: Snoeck Publishers, 2011.

Godwin, John and Gillian Hopwood. Sandbank City: Lagos at 150. Lagos: Kachifo Limited, 2012.

James Agbogun. The Traditional Significance of the Coral Bead in Bini Kingdom. Retrieved from: http://www.the-nigeria.com/2011/11/traditional-significance-of-coral-bead.html (5th November 2011)

Kwekudee. Ibibio People: The Most Ancient Nigerian Ethnic Group And Their Famous "Ekpo" Secret Society Retrieved from: http://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com. (Monday, June 10, 2013)

Archival Photos

J.A. Green:

Photographs of Oba Ovonramwen (Circa1897-1914)

Ibibio traditional wedding dress (Circa 1910)

Unknown Photographers

Photographs of Alake monarchs (1920)

Ladapo Ademola (1904).

Retrieved from: http://nigerianostalgia.tumblr.com

MEDIUM/ MATERIALS USED

Benin dress:

Igbebe (beaded wrapper)

Materials: Used T-shirt

Okuku (beaded headdress)

Materials: Used head wear, hairnet and coral beads

Calabar dress:

Damask (embroidered fabric): used underwear, satin fabric

Essang (Brass staff)

Eting Adiaha (the first daughter’s hairdo): synthetic woven hair, brass combs

Ibibio dress:

Abang skirt (Ibibio wedding dress c. 1910)

Materials: Used underwear, Dutch printed fabric (Ankara), bamboo underwear

Itam Nkwa (beaded headdress)

Materials: Used head warmer, beads

Hausa/Fulani dress:

Jumpy blouse and wrapper

Materials: Used mens underwear, calico material, used blouse, beads, kwarya (calabash) and acrylic

Igbo dress:

Akwa Ukwu Abuo (double wrapper), Igbo blouse and gele (head dress)

Materials: George fabric, embroidered lace fabric, used burlap and beaded necklace

Yoruba dress:

Buba-iro-ipele-gele (female blouse-wrapper-headdress-shawl)

Materials: printed fabric, Rubelli fabric, bead necklace

Buba-agbada-sokoto-gobi (male big shirt-garment-trousers-cap)

Materials: printed fabric, piece from used shirt and pants, Rubelli fabric and bead necklace

O leku iro and buba

Materials: embroidered lace fabric, pieces from used T-shirt

Aso-oke

Materials: Hand woven, used shirt scraps

Female agbada

Materials: Used jeans, used underwear, beaded necklace

Image of the final piece

Fog of colors - photo by Jesse Akerele

Fog of colors - photo by Victor Ekpuk.