Yoruba women in Abeokuta paint cassava-starch paste through metal stencils onto cotton, then dunk the cloth in indigo — wherever paste sat resists the dye, leaving white pattern on deep blue.
Paint cassava-starch paste through stencils onto cotton, then dunk it in indigo. Wherever the paste was, the cloth stays white.
- ▸The paste blocks the dye like wax in batik, but it's just kitchen starch.
- ▸Indigo only colours the bare cloth around the painted shapes.
- ▸Wash off the dried paste at the end and the pattern appears.
History
Adire (literally 'tied and dyed') is a centuries-old Yoruba textile craft from southwest Nigeria. The eleko ('with starch') variant emerged in the 19th century around Abeokuta, where artisans like the Olubadan workshops developed a vocabulary of named patterns (Ibadandun, Olokun) painted with feathers and stencils cut from kerosene-tin sheet metal.
Process
- 01
Cook cassava starch with alum into a thick, paintable paste.
- 02
Cut a stencil from a flattened biscuit tin or sheet metal, or freehand with a feather quill.
- 03
Spread cassava paste through the stencil onto plain cotton cloth.
- 04
Dry the paste fully so it stiffens into a resist crust.
- 05
Dip the cloth several times in a fermented indigo vat, oxidising between dips.
- 06
Crack and wash off the cassava paste — white pattern stays where the paste was.
Strengths
- +All-natural resist
- +Endlessly variable patterns
- +Living women-led tradition
Limitations
- −Indigo vat takes weeks to ferment
- −Paste cracks if rushed
- −Stencil cutting is slow
Sources & citations
References for the history and process described above.
- 01Adire: Yoruba Indigo Resist-Dyed Cloth — Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
- 02Adire Cloth in Nigeria — Victoria & Albert Museum