Exploring Cloth as Medium and Metaphor in Nigerian Art Ecology and Scholarship

Abstract

Cloth has evolved over time from a mere utilitarian material into a critical visual language capable of generating multiple meanings. This paper examines the dynamic role of cloth as both medium and metaphor within the Nigerian art ecology, revealing how artists employ it to communicate identity, cultural memory, and socio-political commentary. Using a qualitative, descriptive, and interpretative methodology, the study engages the tools of iconography, semiotics, and ekphrasis to analyse selected works of contemporary Nigerian artists such as El Anatsui, Nike Okundaye, Peju Alatise, Peju Layiwola, Ozioma Onuzulike, and Eva Obodo from the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art. Findings indicate that these artists reconfigure traditional textile forms into conceptual vehicles that bridge indigenous knowledge systems and modern artistic expression. Through this process, cloth transcends its material function to become a site of metaphor and meaning-making, reflecting issues of gender, identity, memory, and sustainability. The paper contributes to scholarship in Nigerian and African art history by expanding the understanding of how cloth operates as a semiotic and aesthetic framework that shapes contemporary artistic discourse and ecological thinking. Keywords: , , , , , , .