Out of Many, One People (2025 Work-In-Progress)
My approach to adire (a Nigerian tie-dye technique with indigo) focuses on cassava. It also features material differences to the traditional adire process, including an ability to develop photographs through the tie-dye process as well as the opportunity to develop what I’m calling “reverse adire” - a technique whereby I add natural pigments - from indigo to nutmeg - to the cassava so as to keep it on the cotton cloth rather than wash it off as is custom.
The cassava acts as a counter-archive of the Columbian exchange - with the Indigenous knowledge that traveled alongside the crop foregrounded - while the engagement with the gendered story-telling tradition of adire speaks to gendered experiences of colonization in Nigeria.
Key words: counter-archive; racial capitalism; gendered knowledge-transmission
The artist would like to acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.