The ancient art of planking… A compulsory process in Adire making
Its diversity and popularity runs beyond our borders, spreading as far as the Asian continent where adire fabrics are sought after. Though other African wax fabrics such as Ankara have stolen the limelight on international catwalks, the universal appeal of adire is still waxing strong. But much more than a fashionable fabric, OMOLOLA ITAYEMI explores its rich history, how it became the versatile fabric it is and why it remains a cultural phenomenon
It’s almost impossible to attend a social event out of town without returning with one indigenous product or the other. What started out as a quest for good adire fabrics in Kemta market on my way back to Lagos after a high-octane party turned into an insight into the history, manufacturing and marketing of adire fabrics.
Family heirloom
A haggle no doubt, but it was worth every penny. Entering into Abeokuta from the Sango axis of the state you will in a short distance get to the Kemta Adire Market which is reputed to be one of the oldest markets in the world and right in the middle of town. Known for its famous attire which has been in existence for over a hundred years, the market’s hereditary status has been passed on from generation to generation. The distinct nature of the Adire Market is the fact that virtually all the traders in the market are descendants of their families who have died, bequeathing a portion of the market that is theirs to their descendants
The market is adorned with different shades and designs of Adire attire. No fewer than 5000 persons – men and women, young men and ladies, across the state are engaged directly or indirectly in this adire craft. And the bulk of them are concentrated in Itoku, Kemta and Asero areas of Abeokuta, the state capital.
Each and every state in Nigeria has its own culture and a form or means of identification and Abeokuta indigenes are not any different. As a distinctive textile type, adire first emerged in the city of Abeokuta, a centre for cotton production, weaving, and indigo-dyeing in the nineteenth century. The prototype was tie-dyed kijipa, a hand-woven cloth dyed with indigo for use as wrappers and covering cloths. Female specialists dyed yarns and cloth and also refurbished faded clothing by re-dyeing the cloth with tie-dyed patterns.
Saturday was even busier as I came to find out from the volume of human traffic going in and out of the market. If I had any notion that the appeal of this resist-dyed cloth is fading, this dispelled any doubt in my mind. Mainly a hereditary profession, manufacturing of this age-long fabric is not limited to Abeokuta alone but Abeokuta ranks as the highest manufacturing and selling outlet.
Nearly all the adire fabrics one gets to see either on runways or big designer shops in major cities of the world come from here either directly or indirectly. From the good old Kampala to the more modern adire, everything can be found in Kemta. If you are averse to strong smells (not pungent), you’re better off using a nose mask or sending an intermediary as the combined smell of the various chemicals employed in the production of this fabric can be overpowering. But one can be shielded from getting to see where this smell emanates from as main production goes on behind the rows of shops and kiosks displaying various types of adire fabrics.
The production process could be quite tedious, including a process involving sourcing of the fabric, tying the fabric, dying, drying, ‘planking’ and packing, before they are sewn into the gorgeous designs by the tailors. The next important process after the dyed piece of materials has dried is what is termed ‘planking’. Planking, common with both Abeokuta and Aguda production is done on a wooden platform by mostly men, who spend hours hitting the adire material with a piece of heavy wood, in a way it would achieve its appearance like a well-ironed fabrics. Each process has a body of skilled artisans committed to delivering the specific tasks. For the batik, another off aspect of the adire materials which comes more artistic, these artisans make use of wax is which is used for the designs before dying, after which they are washed off with hot water. These processes as painstaking as they seem are not so financially rewarding especially for artisans who earn as low as N200 per ‘planking’ thirty yards of clothes.
While tying and soaking for sale takes as much as two weeks depending on the exact kind, some like alaro-dudu can take as much as a month or two. But for Kampala you can tie and soak today and use tomorrow, mama idera confirmed.
Steeped in history
Adire, unlike other fabrics popular to Nigerians is steeped in history. The earliest pieces of Adire were probably simple tied designs on cotton cloth handspun and woven locally towards the end of the 19th Century. But in the early decades of the 20th Century new access to large quantities of imported shirting material via the spread of European textile merchants in Abeokuta caused a boom in these women’s entrepreneurial and artistic efforts, making Adire a major local craft in Abeokuta, attracting buyers from all over West Africa. The cloth’s basic shape became that of two pieces of shirting material stitched together to create a women’s wrapper cloth.
According to alhaji Akanmo, ‘Adire, which means “tied and dyed,” was first applied to indigo-dyed cloth decorated with, resist patterns around the turn of the twentieth century. With the introduction of a broader colour palette of imported synthetic dyes in the second half of the twentieth century, the label “Adire” was expanded to include a variety of hand-dyed textiles using wax resist batik methods to produce patterned cloth in a dazzling array of dye tints and hues.’
New techniques of resist dyeing developed, such as “adire eleko” (hand-painting designs onto cloth with a cassava starch paste prior to dyeing), along with a new style more suited to rapid mass production (using metal stencils cut from the sheets of tin that lined tea chests, using sewn raffia and/or tied sections, or folding the cloths repeatedly before tying or stitching them in place). Most of the designs were named, with popular ones including the jubilee pattern, (first produced for the silver jubilee of George V and Queen Mary in 1935), Olokun (“goddess of the sea”), and Ibadadun (“Ibadan is sweet”).
Between the old and new
For some, their preference is fabric produced through the old method of dyeing but for others, the newer and faster method is preferred. But can one tell and what could the advantages be? One of the most popular women involved in tying the clothes before applying dye in Itoku is Mama Idera , who has decades of experience in the art of tying and dyeing. She like most of her mates got into the business of adire production by birth, the heritage was passed on from her parents whose parents were also involved in the production process. She was painstakingly tying every bit of the material with her hand into specific knots of varying degrees and sought to know why this process cannot be mechanised to make it faster. “Machines will not do it as good as we humans. If you want the ‘tying and dyeing’ process to be perfect, you must not use any machine. You must rely on human beings”, she said.
But this claim might not ring true as I found out with Adire makers from the Gambia working in Kemta. Ahmadu who has been resident in Nigeria for over 10 years and one of the few Gambian adire makers who relocated from Aguda, Surulere to Abeokuta dismissed this opinion saying, ‘not only are the machine-made ones produced faster and in larger quantities, they don’t fade easily as suggested by Salamatu. Although Ahmadu still uses the traditional tie and dye, the machine-made ones are very common back home in the Gambia. Same as Adire fabrics imported from Indonesia or other Asian countries involved in this craft.
I learnt that adire is more than a common fabric with indigenes, from brides donning this fabric for their wedding ceremonies in the olden days (this particular one takes up to three years to get ready) to well-heeled members of the society wearing it to important occasions. Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, former Governor Olusegun Osoba and governor and wife of governor of Ogun state, Ibikunle and Olufunso Amosun are constantly seen in this fabric.
Adire gets an overhaul
Something new is happening in Ogun State. Adire, a once vibrant local fabric which brought fame to the state, and then lost patronage, is staging a comeback. And driving this revival is the wife of the governor, Mrs Olufunso Amosun. This resurgence inspired by the Ibikunle Amosun administration which lays emphasis on generating jobs and shoring up the revenue base of the state. The governor’s wife led top government officials and several others to a seminar where the fabric was re-presented to the people in grand style. First, she turned out in a colourful outfit made of the fabric, complete with a remarkable headgear, also of the same cloth. So did other dignitaries at the event, one of whom the state Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Elizabeth Sonubi.
It was certainly a practical way to launch the comeback of the once prized fabric. But there was more to the seminar, organised by the state Ministry of Culture and Tourism, than merely donning the local textile. Almost everyone who spoke extolled the merits of the Adire industry. Some said it is a gold mine from which to tap N1 billion annually. Everyone agreed that it will generate lots of jobs. Mrs Amosun, the Culture and Tourism Commissioner, Chief Olu Odeyemi, Mrs Elizabeth Sonnubi of Women Affairs laid out its profile.
The governor’s wife, in her speech, noted that the Adire fabric can contribute immensely to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and even that of the country if it is better processed and produced in line with global trends.
“Today, the Adire fabric has become synonymous to Ogun State,” she said. “However, much is still to be done to reposition it to that much desired vantage position that will hit the international market and thus make its way into the wardrobes of many at the national and international levels.
“Much is still to be learnt from our Chinese brothers and other countries whose fabrics have made remarkable success in the national and international market. Modern technology also exists for the Adire makers to tap into to increase speed of production, quality and lessen the burden of human labour.
“Economically, Adire has become an income earner and provider of jobs to the many who have thought it wise to make a profession out of it. I strongly believe that the future holds much to be desired in the industry,” Mrs Amosun said.
Odeyemi who noted that the untiring commitment of women and men in Itoku, Asero and Kemta Adire markets have kept the age-long heritage alive, expressed the optimism that if the trade is harnessed, it would create more job opportunities to teeming youth population in the state.
Health implications
Clothing materials are one of the basic necessities of life but sometimes the desire to cloth ourselves in a certain way can affect our health. Such is the case with ‘Adire’ industry where effluents from the industry contribute to environmental degradation and further affect the health of producers. Health problems identified include skin rashes, ulceration, swelling, respiratory diseases and complications during delivery. In addition, available water bodies serve as waste receptacle for effluents from the industry thereby disturbing aquatic biodiversity while those discharged on land affect the terrestrial diversity. In view of this, recommendations were made to protect man and the environment from effluents discharge of the indigenous industry. Such recommendations include education, proper waste management and legislation to improve production methods and consequently enhance living standards.
Celebration of Adire carnival
Like any product that has evolved over the years, Adire has a carnival dedicated to it which holds in the month of December. According to president of the Adire Carnival Festival, Chief Micheal Ogunfidodo, “in Kemta we know nothing else apart from the adire and in other to celebrate our culture and do other things we decided to introduce the Adire Carnival and also a cultural fashion festival through which we intend to sell this clothing to the rest of the world. The carnival is to give thanks to God and we invite people to come and celebrate with us and we usually celebrate it during the festive season.”