Indigo Pathways telling stories through fabric
Kibibi Ajanku Vol. 01
Dedication And this is dedicated to Those packing and unpacking building and fixing ships in Fells Point to save up money for a very special mission Not a house or a horse or a business But to buy a person Into liberty Cuz even if we be free not our cousin, husband, mother tho Whose flesh and bones fed a dream In the city that set a trend through Segregation, red lining, free black people, uprisings, social justice, railroad tracks, good plays, good music, modernity, a dentist school, club music, crab cakes, street lights This is the unnamed spirit Begging to be acknowledged healed and released The ghost of tears pretending to be rain The clank of chains in a bucket of deferred destiny messing up your wifi The kidnapped souls causing a power outage We are their future laying hands on a belligerent past Leading the way
-Olu Butterfly Woods
Indigo Pathways telling stories through fabric
Kibibi Ajanku 2021
Acknowledgements Indigo Pathways… telling stories through fabric is a collection of creative works that are defined by spirit and supported by legacy and history. I am humble as I follow the directions of an indigo calling that whispers consistently in my ear.
My Mama, Susan T. King, and my family, House Ajanku; you are my breath. I am, because you are. Joseph Ford, thank you for advising me through this catalogue process. Larry Poncho Brown, you understand who I am as an artist. Your support of me and your belief in my process has pushed me to dig deeper and soar higher. Because of you, my strides appear courageous and strong. Thank you.
Additionally, I am honored to have been a recipient of the 2020 Rubys Artist Award. It has been a beneficial resource to support the building of “Indigo Pathways” as a body of works exploring creative inheritance, patchworked plantation stitchery, and indigo dye traditions that define the intersection of fiber arts between America and West Africa.
-Kibibi Ajanku
Black Classic Press 2021
The Portal 2021 Adire Oniko indigo dyed fabric; Ankara decoupage; traditional currency; ceramic; wood; acrylic 26 x 32 inches
Indigo Influences by Angela Carroll, Author & Journalist From Ghana to Benin, Benin to Nigeria, Kibibi Ajanku has apprenticed with master dyers who retain the knowledge of traditional indigo dying techniques jeopardized by contemporary synthetic processes. Ajanku initially heard the call to study indigo in 1996 during her first trip to a small village in the Gambia to acquire fabric for her dance company, Sankofa Dance Theater. Intrigued by the practice and process of indigo, Ajanku has dedicated the last few decades of her life to mastering what she has learned from
America so that those traditions are not forgotten is a primary impetus for Ajanku’s practice. Ajanku considers herself and the mixed media indigo works she renders portals: conduits that refresh significant arts that would otherwise be lost to time or the violent indoctrinating modernity of colonial projects. Indigo is a permanent alteration. Whatever textile touches the murky depths of an indigo vat is indelibly tinged with a royal patina. We can learn a lot from the alchemical reciprocity of traditional
Black creative geniuses across the diaspora to render extraordinary mixed media textiles quilts, art dolls, and costumes. Her exhibition, Indigo
indigo processes.
Pathways, features selections from bodies of work that she has created since 2016 to pursue a
if we each engaged a healthy obsession with disavowing the erasure of our indigenous
deeper understanding of and commitment to indigo traditions.
traditions. The ways of being that African descendants could retain are dwarfed by the
There is a tension between the laborious and tedious methods traditional indigo dying
incalculable knowledge that we have lost. Perhaps that is why Ajanku has embraced every opportunity she can to deepen her artistry with
practices require and the immediate capital demands modernity stipulates. Learning
indigo. Ajanku utilizes an intuitive investigative approach divorced from colonial anthropological
indigenous West African indigo dyeing techniques and teaching them to others in
methodologies and is more attuned with experiential learning. Whether she fabricates
One wonders how different our world would be
cloth-based mixed media collages, quilts, traditional textiles, costumes, or afro art dolls,
sun is illustrated with cowry shells and circular cutouts of red and black adinkra printed cloth.
her intentions remain the same; to acknowledge and elevate indigo traditions that African Americans inherited from West Africa.
All elements are sown into indigo textiles and filled with cotton batting to form intimate and sizable ornamental quilts.
Her quilt series (2016-2021) showcases her experiments with batik & hand-dyed indigo as well as Adire Oniko dye resist techniques and the incorporation of contemporary denim swatches to illustrate and abstract real and imagined landscapes. In Sunshine Over the Baobab, (2019), an African textile with glass beads, cowrie shells, denim, and cotton batting, Ajanku embeds mixed media attributes into traditional African American quilt designs to riff on what she calls “new world approaches to quilting and messaging.” Sunshine Over Baobab, and other quilts in the series, revise conventional landscapes and engage an imaginative perspective that simultaneously flattens and adds dimensionality to semi-aerial vantages. In these creations, the indigo textiles function as foundational materials, a landmass,
The textiles series (2019) features cotton brocade fabrics that have been hand-dyed with indigo using either the batik wax dye resist or cassava paste dye resist technique. Each textile references deities or cosmologies from West African Traditional Religions. In Kabiasi’s Umbrella, Ajanku incorporates Adire symbols as a recognizable cultural iconography to announce a chief’s arrival in Oshogbo, Nigeria. The coded language that Ajanku employs is an ancient strategy of communication. The patterns that recur in these textiles mark time, narrate significant events, and archive histories that would have otherwise been iterated intergenerationally by oral historians known as griots through ewì, varying types of Yoruba poetry sung to offer praise or enunciate ceremonial occasions.
or small bodies of water, for worlds that include African and African American features. Baobab
In all iterations, Ajanku alters textiles to trace
trees are created out of hand-dyed fabric. The
the origins of our becoming. Her practice
assesses the ruptures that recur during attempts to maintain the integrity of ancient traditions while grappling with the paradoxical expectations of the new world. Though significant scholarship has been conducted about the cultivation of indigo throughout Asia, a global producer and distributor of products and textiles derived from the crop, Ajanku’s research focuses on the ways indigo was transplanted from West Africa into the American south by way of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. “You can find artifacts for cane but not for indigo,” she says. “[but], sometimes you have to jump across and jump back in order to come forward.” Indigo Pathways, reflects the leaps that Ajanku has endeavored over the last decade. Each exhibited indigo artwork references centuries of indigo mastery and Ajanku’s keen dedication to continuing the legacy of the artisans who precede her.
Indigo Art in Action 2019
Nike Art Center, Oshogbo, Nigeria
Convergence by Kibibi Ajankku In truth my work is a convergence of material, time, place, and African diaspora world view. This convergence is an intersection that shows up in many forms. The translation is that all of my artwork points to identity. The convergence is the linkage that pulls it all together... everything working together toward one unified goal. So you may see my work come to life as handdyed tapestry, embellished gallery quilts, Afro-art dolls, mixed media collage, or simply through the act and artistry of working with the very indigo that touched my people in the most intimate way.
The production of work steeped in identity is a resistance element. It is a refusal, it is an affirmation, and it is an assertion... all at once. I am an activist artist working for social justice. I stand on the shoulders of the past through artistry that is rich, diverse, and creative. It is ancient while at the same time cutting edge and always, always changing. It is my hope that the sum total of my work is experienced as a practice, a service, and a portal that messages and inspires steps toward a more balanced and inclusive way of existence.
Dame du Marché 2021
Indigo and Ankara decoupage on vintage wood plank 5.5 x 16.5 inches
The untold stories are histories, legacies, and truths that are hidden in the margin.
Phenomenon in Blue 2021 Adire Oniko dyed indigo; African textile; traditional currency; glass beads; silver beads; silk; cotton batting 42 x 42 inches
Crossing Rivers 2021 Textile decoupage: handyed indigo; West African Ankara; paper on canvas 20 x 16 inches
“Indigo Pathways” is based on the journeys of my Ancestors, from Africa to the Americas.
Under the Baobab 2018
Adire Oniko indigo dyed fabric; handmade paper; African textile; collage 32 x 21 x 2 inches
Indigo Magic Community Quilt 2016 Hand-dyed indigo swatches created during one of Kibibi Ajanku's Indigo Dye Days using Adire Oniko dye resist technique on cotton brocade fabric 92 x 84 inches
Spirit Work 2019 West African textile; up-cycled denim; glass beads; traditional currency; bone and antique buttons on board 24 x 15 x 3 inches
I use textiles and dye to represent different stages in the historical journey of African American identity,
as a way to honor the lives of American-born Africans, and as a disruption to a landscape where marginalization and invisibility are the reflexes woven in to the tapestry of day-to-day life.
Sunshine Over the Baobab 2019
African textile; up-cycled denim; glass beads; traditional currency; cotton batting 19 x 28 inches
Seeds of Change 2021 Adire Oniko indigo dyed fabric; handdyed indigo; traditional currency; glass beads; cotton batting 16 x 19 inches
Indigo Pathways 2021 Hand-dyed indigo; Mali-dyed indigo; up-cycled denim; traditional currency; cotton batting 41 x 32 inches
Osun's Purse 2019 Hand-dyed indigo using batik wax dye resist technique on cotton brocade fabric 42 x 48 inches
River Dancers 2019 Hand-dyed indigo using batik wax dye resist technique on cotton brocade fabric 42 x 48 inches
Indigo Afro Art Dolls by Camila Bryce-Laporte, Folkolist
Kibibi Ajanku creates beautiful indigo dolls using traditional West African dying methods. The dyed dolls are then embellished with cowry shells and African cloth. Yet these dolls are more than the creative integration texture and nuanced shades of blue. Kibibi Ajanku’s indigo dolls reflect her deep connection to African and African American culture, artistry and spirituality. Each doll is an invitation to healing.
“We are living in unprecedented times. This requires us to be shuttered in, creating a stillness that is a gift. It leads to introspection... a deep dive inward. That’s where creativity lies!” Today is the golden space to bring some people along. The pandemic hasn’t changed that about me.” Much of Ms. Ajanku’s work is in teaching and serving the community. “The way I work is the way that I work. I shift so
Ms. Ajanku says, “My art is a talisman for those who view it, those who would contemplate it—in an effort to provide a pathway to greater insight and empathy. I let it flow through my spirit and out of my fingers. It comes as it comes. I sit down
that the message can be received. Figuring out how to message out beyond the shutters is the artists’ job. If your message is good, you shouldn’t be shaken.”
and surround myself with the materials and they tell me what to do.” She states if anything is a
“I believe my message is good,” she says assuredly, “I work hard, I work humbly. I work
replication of the past, it isn’t deliberate, it isn’t because she thought of it. “It’s because it came through me.”
for those who would never thank me because they are the ones that need the message. I need to feed those that don’t even know they need the message.”
Indigo Magic 2019 Cotton rag doll; Gambia indigo dyed fabric; up-cycled denim; traditional currency; glass beads 18 x 11 x 3 inches
Azur 2020
Cotton and leather rag doll; Senegal indigo dyed fabric; traditional currency; ceramic; glass; brass 16 x 11 x 5 inches
Kabiasi's Umbrella 2019 Hand-dyed indigo using cassava paste dye resist technique on cotton brocade fabric 41 x 48 inches
The past always has a way of coming back. If you’re lucky, when the past comes to greet you, all it will say is, “I remember you.”
Kibibi Ajanku’s passion for art began early. She was nurtured by “grandma’s hands” as she sat at the knees of a quilt making maternal grandmother and soon followed on the heels of fashion forward seamstress aunts. This fueled an artistic journey as an exploration and execution of an indigenous aesthetic. Ajanku is empowered by international training and workshops: tapestries in Theis, Senegal; Adinkra fabric printing and kente weaving in Kumasi, Ghana; mud cloth acquisitions from the Mali railway; embroidery work in Medina, Senegal; and Orisha attire in Havana, Cuba.
Indigo Pathways Exhibition Partners, Sponsors, and Contributors Larry Poncho Brown Joseph Ford Living Classrooms Rubys Artist Award
Kibibi Ajanku ARTIST ~ CURATOR ~ EDUCATOR
www.KibibiAjanku.com