Ladi Kwali
Ladi Kwali anaa Ladi Dosei Kwali, OON NNOM, MBE (c. 1925 – 12th August, 1984)[1] was a Nigerian potter, ceramicist den educator.[2]
| Ein sex anaa gender | female  |
|---|---|
| Country wey e be citizen | Nigeria |
| Ein date of birth | 16 March 1925, 1925 |
| Place dem born am | Kwali |
| Date wey edie | 12 August 1984 |
| Place wey edie | Kontagora |
| Languages edey speak, rep anaa sign | Hausa, English |
| Ein occupation | ceramicist, pedagogue |
| Award e receive | Member of the Order of the British Empire, Nigerian National Order of Merit Award, Order of the Niger |
| Personal pronoun | L484 |
Dem born Ladi Kwali insyd de village of Kwali insyd de Gwari region of Northern Nigeria, where pottery be an indigenous occupation among women.[3] She learn pottery as a child through ein aunt, using de traditional method of coiling. She make large pots for use as water jars, cooking pots, bowls, den flasks from coils of clay, wey dem beat from de inside plus a flat wooden paddle. They were decorate plus incised geometric ein stylized figurative patterns, including scorpions, lizards, crocodiles, chameleons, snakes, birds, den fish.[4]
Her pots were noted for their beauty of form den decoration, den she be recognize regionally as a gifted den eminent potter.[5] Several were acquired by de emir of Abuja, Alhaji Suleiman Barau,[6] insyd whose home they were seen by Michael Cardew insyd 1950.
Early life
editDem born Miss Kwali insyd de small village of Kwali, present Kwali Area Council of de Federal Capital Territory, insyd 1925 (oda historians indicate ein date of birth be actually 1920).[7] She grow up insyd a family dat keep up plus de folkloric female tradition of pottery making.[7] Mallam Mekaniki Kyebese, Ladi Kwali's younger brother, dey state; “even insyd de early years of pottery making, Ladi Kwali excell insyd de crafts den ein wares were often sold even before they were taken to de markets”.[7]
During ein first professional years, de traditional cultural environment move ein to produce pottery pieces dat wey dey influence by de Gbagyi tradition den accentuat plus personal idioms. Ein approach to clay dey echo by mathematical undertones, wey dey make visible by de continuous display of symmetry.[7]
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Career
editMichael Cardew, hu dem dey appoint to de post of Pottery Officer insyd de Department of Commerce den Industry insyd de colonial Nigerian Government insyd 1951, establishe de Pottery Training Centre insyd Suleja (den call "Abuja") insyd April 1952.[8] Insyd 1954, Ladi Kwali join de Abuja Pottery as its first female potter.[9] There, she learn wheel throwing, glazing, kiln firing, production of saggars, den de use of slip, eventually assuming de role of instructor.[8] She make bowls plus sgraffito decoration, wich involve dipping vessels insyd red anaa white slip den then scratching de decoration through de slip to de underlying body, using a porcupine quill.[4]
By de time Cardew leave ein post insyd 1965, de Centre dey attract four additional women from Gwari: Halima Audu, Lami Toto, Assibi Iddo, den Kande Ushafa.[3] These women work together insyd one of de workshops, wich they call Dakin Gwari (de Gwari room), to hand-build large water pots.[4]
Design style
editThey would shape den scrape de insides of de pots plus de shell of a snail, a hard seed pod anaa a calabash rind.[8] Then, they adapt their traditional incise designs, by inlaying dem plus a white kaolin den feldspar slip, wich would gravitate into de depressed decorations.[8] After these pots be fire plus a translucent celadon glaze, de areas plus slip would appear pale green insyd contrast plus de dark green anaa iron red stoneware body of de vessels.[4] Because de hand-built, ornately pots wey dey decorate be glaze den fire insyd a high-temperature kiln, they represent an interesting hybrid of traditional Gwari den western studio pottery.[10] De quintessential Ladi Kwali pot be coil insyd a stoneware clay, wey dey decorate plus lizard patterns den fire plus a dark shiny glaze. For Western viewers den collectors, de dark glaze be e a metaphor for de pots' "Africanness."[3]
She would impress patterns on top of de figures by rolling small roulettes of twisted string anaa notched wood over de surface of de clay, sometimes as horizontal banding den sometimes insyd vertical panels.[4] De wooden roulettes dey consist of small cylinders of hard wood, two anaa three inches long den a half-inch insyd diameter, notched plus straight, oblique, anaa parallel patterns.[8] De earthenware vessels den decorative techniques fi date back to neolithic period.[8] Following de region's traditional method, dem dey get fired insyd a bonfire of dry vegetation.
Exhibitions
editFrom ein cultural tradition, where females be primarily responsible for pottery, Ladi Kwali's ceramics becam "art objects".[11] Ladi Kwali's pots be feature insyd international exhibitions of Abuja pottery insyd 1958, 1959, den 1962, wey dey organise by Cardew. Insyd 1961, Kwali give demonstrations at de Royal College, Farnham, den Wenford Bridge insyd Great Britain.[3] She san give demonstrations insyd France den Germany over dis period. Insyd 1972, she tour America plus Cardew. Ein work dey show to great acclaim insyd London at de Berkeley Galleries. De Abuja Pottery be rename de Ladi Kwali Pottery insyd de early 1980s.
Awards and achievements
editInsyd 1954, Kwali 's pots be feature insyd de International exhibition of Abuja pottery wey dey organize by Michael Cardew.
Dem award Kwali an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) insyd 1963.[12][13]
Insyd 1977, dem award am an honorary doctoral degree from Ahmadu Bello University insyd Zaria.[14]
Insyd 1980, de Nigerian Government (from de Cabinet Office of de Federal Republic of Nigeria) invest on ein plus de insignia of de Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (NNOM),[15] de highest national honor for academic achievement.[14]
She san dey receive de national honour of de Officer of de Order of the Niger (OON) insyd 1981.[14]
Ein picture appears on de back of de Nigerian 20 Naira banknote.[14]
A major street insyd Abuja be called Ladi Kwali Road.[14]
De Sheraton Hotel houses de Ladi Kwali Convention Center, wich be one of de largest conference facilities insyd Abuja, consisting of ten meeting rooms den four ballrooms.[14]
Ein works dey hold insyd collection all around de world, such as Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, USA, Victoria and Albert Museum, den Aberystwyth University Ceramics Gallery, UK
Insyd 2022, a significant exhibition titled Body Vessel Clay, Black Women, Ceramics & Contemporary Art, wey dey curate den conceive by Dr Jareh Das, be hold at Two Temple Place den de York Art Gallery. Dis exhibition highlighted Ladi Kwali den ein influence on a generation of Black female artists, using Kwali as a starting point to explore 70 years of ceramics by Black women artists.[16]
De Google Doodle for 16 March 2022 be insyd honor of Kwali.[17]
References
edit- ↑ Awa, Omiko (6 December 2020). "Ladi Dosei Kwali, a legendary pacesetter". The Guardian (in American English). Retrieved 10 August 2021.
- ↑ "Ladi Kwali". AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes (in American English). Retrieved 2024-07-07.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Vincentelli, Moira (2000). Women and Ceramics: Gendered Vessels. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. pp. 58–76. ISBN 978-0719038402.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Cardew, Michael (April 1972). "Ladi Kwali: The Potter from England Writes on the Potter from Africa". Craft Horizons (32): 34–37.
- ↑ Thompson, Barbara (6 February 2007). "Namsifueli Nyeki: A Tanzanian Potter Extraordinaire". African Arts. 40 (1): 54–63. doi:10.1162/afar.2007.40.1.54. ISSN 0001-9933. S2CID 57571884.
- ↑ "History of Ladi Kwali, the Famous Nigerian Potter". Abuja Facts. 8 February 2015. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Okunna, E. (1 January 2012). "Living through two pottery traditions and the story of an icon: Ladi Kwali". Mgbakoigba: Journal of African Studies. 1. ISSN 2346-7126.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Slye, Jonathon (October 1966). "Abuja Stoneware". Ceramics Monthly: 12–16.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Ladi Kwali – http://www.studiopottery.com/cgi-bin/mp.cgi?item=251
- ↑ Reed, Lucy (1 January 2002). "Review of Women and Ceramics: Gendered Vessels". Studies in the Decorative Arts. 9 (2): 159–163. doi:10.1086/studdecoarts.9.2.40663018. JSTOR 40663018.
- ↑ "Ladi Kwali MBE award year". British Museum. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ↑ "Supplement to the London Gazette". 25 May 1962. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 "History of Ladi Kwali, the Famous Nigerian Potter | Abuja Facts". www.abujafacts.ng. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
- ↑ "Nigerian National Order Of Merit Award", Frontiers News, 5 December 2013.
- ↑ "Body Vessel Clay". Two Temple Place. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
- ↑ [2]