1. Ladi Kwali was born in the village of Kwali in the Gwari region of Northern Nigeria, where pottery was an indigenous occupation among women.
19 Facts About Ladi Kwali
1. 2.
Ladi Kwali learned pottery as a child through her aunt, using the traditional method of coiling.
3.
Ladi Kwali made large pots for use as water jars, cooking pots, bowls, and flasks from coils of clay, beaten from the inside with a flat wooden paddle.
4.
Ladi Kwali's pots were noted for their beauty of form and decoration, and she was recognized regionally as a gifted and eminent potter.
5.
Miss Kwali was born in the small village of Kwali, present Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, in 1925.
6.
Ladi Kwali grew up in a family that kept up with the folkloric female tradition of pottery making.
7.
In 1954, Ladi Kwali joined the Abuja Pottery as its first female potter.
8.
Ladi Kwali made bowls with sgraffito decoration, which involved dipping vessels in red or white slip and then scratching the decoration through the slip to the underlying body, using a porcupine quill.
9.
The quintessential Ladi Kwali pot was coiled in a stoneware clay, decorated with lizard patterns and fired with a dark shiny glaze.
10.
Ladi Kwali would impress patterns on top of the figures by rolling small roulettes of twisted string or notched wood over the surface of the clay, sometimes as horizontal banding and sometimes in vertical panels.
11.
From her cultural tradition, where females were primarily responsible for pottery, Ladi Kwali's ceramics became "art objects".
12.
Ladi Kwali's pots were featured in international exhibitions of Abuja pottery in 1958,1959, and 1962, organised by Cardew.
13.
In 1961, Ladi Kwali gave demonstrations at the Royal College, Farnham, and Wenford Bridge in Great Britain.
14.
Ladi Kwali gave demonstrations in France and Germany over this period.
15.
Ladi Kwali's work was shown to great acclaim in London at the Berkeley Galleries.
16.
In 1954, Ladi Kwali's pots were featured in the International exhibition of Abuja pottery organized by Michael Cardew.
17.
Ladi Kwali received the national honour of the Officer of the Order of the Niger in 1981.
18.
Ladi Kwali's picture appears on the back of the Nigerian 20 Naira banknote.
19.
Ladi Kwali's works are held in collection all around the world, such as Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, USA, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Aberystwyth University Ceramics Gallery, UK.