ABSTRACT

This study is focused on the modification of Igbo traditional textiles. Akwaocha which is used as an example is the type of traditional handcrafted textile produced in Aniocha areas of Delta State. This weaving tradition is fast losing patronage and needs to be modified and promoted so as to suit the modern cloth consumers. To achieve this objective, information were sourced through interview of weavers, observation and review of related literature. The study includes the historical background of weaving and geographical location of Igboland. Drafts for proper documentation of the modification exercise on the standard broad loom were also included. The study observes that the modified product has improved structure, size and aesthetic appeal. It is hoped that this work stimulates more interest on Igbo traditional textile and also document for posterity.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

The manufacture of textile is long established in Igbo culture. The

fragment of textile recovered from Igboukwu archeological site radiocarbondated

to 9th century AD gave some idea of the antiquity of textile weaving

among the Igbo Shaw, 1970: 240, 244, 263. Oral tradition maintains that the

earliest source of textile for clothing among the Igbo was from the inner bark of

certain trees. This clothing material is locally called aji. This was obtained by

beating the inner bark of such trees like the Iroko Chlorophora Excella or

Stercina Oblanga using a wooden mallet or stone Okeke, 1982:21.

Okeke in Nwosu 2004:2 notes that the improvement of the aji cloth was

the development of raffia cloth known as okara, abada or agwo depending on

the dialect of the locality. The raffia cloth was made from the raffia palm leave;

that is the epidemis of the tender leaves. Like aji, okara was generally worn

around the hip region to conceal the genitals for decency. With the introduction

of the vertical handloom, the okara cloth was woven on loom. Today, cloths

produced in Igbo land and indeed in many parts of Nigeria are made from

cotton fibers. Based on available records, cotton must have been a very ancient

fiber in the region. In his narrative, Olaudah Equiano wrote about the women in

his Igbo homeland spinning and weaving cotton in the eighteenth century. He

described his Igbo homeland as part of the remote provinces of the great

Kingdom of Benin Equiano, 1798:512.

Graham Connahs excavation in Benin revealed some fragments of cloth

made from spun fibers. These fragments of cloth were radio carbon dated to

about the middle of thirteenth century Connah, 1971:16; 236237. This fact ...Get Complete Material.