Damiete Braide
When Peju Layiwola opens her solo exhibition on June 13, the Main Auditorium of the University of Lagos will become a mecca to art enthusiasts. The showpiece which will last till July 30 will essentially focus on pottery and cloth dyeing.
Titled: “Indigo Reimagined,” the exhibition (coming exactly one year after the inaugural exhibition of the Raw Gallery at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa), is a revisit of the indigenous clothing tradition of dyed fabrics in Southwest Nigeria. While Indigo highlights the multidimensionality of this artistic practice, it simultaneously provides a window into the beauty and utility of other indigenous crafts associated with dyeing, such as pottery and metalwork.
The exhibition will spotlight important aspects involved in the process of the long-standing tradition of indigo dyeing.
The show stands as a reflection of modern urban culture in the introduction of new themes, techniques, and materials; ultimately, it challenges all viewers to see a cloth in multiple sociocultural and political dimensions.
Those who would partake in the exhibition can look forward to extraordinary moments. Peju Layiwola, a Professor of Art History and current Head of the Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos, has a rich and robust hands-on experience from years of leading workshops on tie-dye, batik and silk painting Women and Youth Art Foundation (Wy Art) a charity she founded in 1994 in Surulere, Lagos.