Aso-Oke

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Famed fashion designer, Marc Jacobs once said, “clothing is a form of self-expression - there are hints about who you are in what you wear” (goodreads.com). This quote is an important example of how what you wear is a very significant type of self-expression and also relevant to the gist of what textile traditions in Africa represent. The textiles included different African civilizations usually have unique and profound stories attached to them. Intertwined with beautiful colors, symbols and intricate techniques used to apply these elements, lies “important events, people or political struggles that in other parts of the world might be recorded in writing, or marked by a plaque or monument” (royalafricansociety.org).
Moreover, in African culture, …show more content…

For example, in Nigeria, it is here you’d find textiles such as Aso-Oke (ah-SHAW-okay), a woven strip cloth that is the “traditional wear of the Yoruba’s (the tribe of the southwest people in Nigeria, Africa). Aso-Oke is a cloth that is worn on special occasions by the Yoruba's usually for chieftaincy, festivals, engagement, naming ceremony and other important events” (digest.bellafricana.com).
Along with Aso-Oke, there is also the indigo dyed cloth called Adire, which is made by Yoruba women. According to the book titled, African Textiles by Christopher Spring, he states, “although many cloths are woven from uncolored natural fibers, the practice of dyeing both the yarn and the completed textile is widespread throughout Africa” (1989:5). Spring continues by adding, “the term Adire is a name given by the Yoruba to the cloths in which they produce by using the technique of resist dyeing, which is widely popular in South Western Nigeria” …show more content…

Toerien, it is stated that mud cloth native to Bamana people of Mali is frequently “referred to as Bògòlanfini or bokolanfini. The word “bogolan” means something made by using mud, while “fini” means cloth (as quoted in Toerien, 1997). Usually, women performed the painting process of mud cloth. According to Toerien, “young women were taught by their mothers during a long-term apprenticeship. As with most West-African textile production, all the different activities in the making of mud cloth (spinning, weaving and decoration) have always been clearly gender defined”

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