Peju Layiwola’s Textile Narratives and Reincarnation of Indigo Reimagined
Among her contemporaries in the local art scene, Peju Layiwola—an art history professor at the University of Lagos’ Department of Creative Arts— easily stands out for her appropriations of local textile motifs. This probably accounts for the fairly large turnout of both her friends and associates at the presentation of her book, Indigo Reimagined: Rethinking Àdìrẹ in Yoruba Fashion and Textile Modernity, at ASHLUXURY along Admiralty Way in Lekki, Lagos, on Thursday, December 15.
Should it surprise anyone that the presentation of the 206-page book, which essentially is a compilation of the authoritative opinions of literary critics, art historians, and other cognoscenti who attended the 2019 exhibition with the same title held in two locations in Lagos, was held concurrently with the introduction of her clothing line?
A quick reminder about the exhibition, which was curated by Professor Layiwola herself. Its physical event was first held at the University of Lagos’ gallery and subsequently at Alara on Victoria Island. Its afterlife in virtual spaces and on other media platforms was believed to have been witnessed by many. Hence, the book reenacts the memories of this exhibition through its collection of insightful essays and high-resolution photographs.
Perhaps it is not incorrect to consider the book, which was produced in 2021 by the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies at the University of Lagos, to fill the role of an exhibition catalogue. This is because the authors’ knowledgeable perspectives delve deeply enough into the exhibition to make viewers feel as if they witnessed it firsthand.
This book, whose foreword was written by Ayodeji Olukoju, a distinguished professor of history at the University of Lagos, features high-profile contributors such as Professor Janine Sytsma of the University of Arkansas’s School of Art, Patricia Oyelola, a senior research fellow formerly of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibadan, and Tobenna Okwuosa, an associate professor at the Niger Delta University. Others include: Professor Phoenix Savage of Toogaloo University in Jackson, Mississippi, USA; Jean Borgatti of the Fitchburg Art Museum, Clark Institute, USA; and Boston University, USA; Nengi Omuku, a visual artist based in London, UK; Charles Gore of the Department of History of Art and Archaeology, SOAS, UK; Professor Paula Callus of Bournemouth University, UK; Professor Ayo Adeduntan of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan; Lekan Balogun and Timothy Olusola Ogunfunwa of the Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos; Odun Orimolade, of the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos; and Professor Emmanuelle Spiesse of Les Afriques dans le Monde, Sciences politiques (LAM), and the University of Bordeaux, France.
A statement by Professor Ayodele Atsenuwa, the University of Lagos’ deputy vice-chancellor, sees the launch of the book, which was edited by Patrick Oloko, as the bringing together of the academic community and industry practitioners in the fashion, textiles, and creative sectors. “I am aware that Professor Layiwola has fostered several programmes of such nature,” he said. “Only recently, she facilitated a collaboration that enabled six students from the University of Fine Arts, Hamburg (HFBK), Germany to work with six of our own students to put up an exhibition at our Lagoon Gallery.”
The deputy vice-chancellor also recalled that during Professor Layiwola’s tenure as the head of the University of Lagos’ Creative Arts Department, the renowned model, Naomi Campbell, was hosted in the department in 2019. “Through the efforts of Campbell, Gucci facilitated the participation of five of our visual arts students in a fashion competition that held in Rome, Italy. Michael Irabor, a winner in that competition, is enjoying a year-long study in Rome fully funded by Gucci. A few weeks ago, Prof. Layiwola was invited by Naomi Campbell to attend the official launch of her charity in Doha and to also discuss future collaborations between the University of Lagos and the Naomi Campbell Charity.
“And following closely in that direction is the donation of 10,000 dollars by Ashluxury to the Department of Creative Arts to support the work of the Visual Arts unit. Through that grant, two female students received invaluable support towards their education.” Besides her appropriation of textile motifs, Professor Layiwola’s advocacy for the return of the artefacts stolen from Benin during the British punitive expedition of 1897 paved the way for her 2010 solo exhibition, Benin1897.com: Art and the Restitution Question, held in Lagos and Ibadan, and her 2014 collaborative art project, titled Whose Centenary? and held in Benin City.
On the international stage, she had won the African Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, in 2020, became a Tyson Scholar at the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, USA, in 2019 as well as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Arkansas from 2019 to 2020, and was nominated as the State of Arkansas 2020 Ambassador of Goodwill.
In addition, she was a recipient of the Terra Foundation Grant for American Art in 2018, the CAA-Getty Alumni Grant in 2018, and was nominated to the US International Leadership Programme (IVLP) in 2011. In 2012, she partnered with The Bronx Museum of the Arts on the Hillary Clinton US State Department SmARTpower programme, won the US Lagos State Consulate Grant, and was awarded a Goethe Resident Artist grant (KNW) in Düsseldorf in 2017 as well as the US Alumni Exchange Award 2018.
