Featured Workshop: African Indigo - Adire and Tie Dye

by - Sunday, September 21, 2014



FEATURED ARTISAN and WORKSHOP
ADIRE and TIE DIE with GASALI ADEYEMO

"Indigo is very powerful" muses Gasali Onireke Adeyemo, "In my tribe, we revere indigo as it symbolizes love. When we love someone, we gift him or her an indigo-dyed cloth."

This October, renowned indigo artist Gasali Adeyemo will be travelling to Vancouver to teach. The name Gasali Adeyemo has become synonymous with the Adire cloth of the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria.



The art of Adire is similar to painting. The patterns are finely etched, symmetrical and conform to a traditional vocabulary. The designs are hand-painted using stencils, chicken feathers, slender broom straws and a small knife dipped in cassava paste to create strokes of differing thickness and texture. Each composition transmits a message, communicating the happenings in the community and the events of a generation in a style that emphasizes the link between life forms and the environment. In this class Gasali will take students through these techniques. The finished pieces will be dyed with indigo using traditional African methods.

Gasali will also teach the folding, patterning, and tie techniques used to create a tied resist with raffia. There are a few different raffia tie-dye techniques. One is a stitch resist where the design is made using a needle to stitch the raffia into the fabric. Another is tied by hand using raffia to create designs. Gasali will teach the students both tie-dye techniques as well as how to dye the fabric and remove the raffia. The finished pieces will be dyed with indigo using traditional African methods.

In addition to these traditional techniques, Gasali will  speak about the importance of indigo, adire, and tie-dye to both himself and his culture. Learn the meanings behind the designs of this distinctive African cloth. Says Gasali, "The cloth you wear is your second skin. So, Adire is as much a part of me as my skin. My work is the medium through which I campaign for the environment."


Spaces available. Call us 604 669 3939 or register online here:http://www.maiwa.com/home/workshops/workshops/111136.html

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1 comments

  1. Very good post. "Gasali will also teach the folding, patterning, and tie techniques used to create a tied resist with raffia." its really beautiful. African Wax Print

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