OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLE: ANALYSIS OF THE MOTIFS OF OSOGBO BATIK

Osogbo, a Yoruba town in Southwestern Nigeria was traditionally given the name” Ilu aro” which means the home of indigo dyeing because of the abundance of the raw materials for indigo dyeing, and prevalence of Adire, the Yoruba resist and indigo dyed textile with its peculiar, standardized and traditionally accepted motifs in the town. The name of the town and even the history of its origin also have their roots in this dyeing tradition. However, in a world marked by constant social-cultural change, brought about by external influence and internal development, the Batik resist technique was introduced into Osogbo in the 1960s. This change was embraced and the innovative ability of the people came to the fore as they drew from the existing pool of motifs to adapt into the new technique, thus bringing about a devolution and eclectic new set of motifs which up till now have remained unstudied. This paper, through qualitative study, therefore analyses and brings to the fore the converging and diverging points of traditional Adire and Batik motifs in Osogbo textile art tradition.