ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on ethnographical observation from independent fieldwork across Yorubaland and beyond, and explores the links between the elements of design, light and harmony that coalesce into the phenomenon of resplendence associated with the Yoruba prestige textile, aso-oke. Aso-oke, also called aso-ofi, is the most culturally important Yoruba prestige textile and the name operates on two levels – aso-oke as well as aso ilu oke. The chapter examines the armature and drivers of the spectacle of resplendence – tradition and 'fashion' – and investigates how the symbolism of the designs and patterns contributes to the understanding of grandeur sought by all participants – the weaver, the wearer and the observer. In traditional Yoruba culture, status was conveyed by more than mere economic prowess. Scholars of African textile technology agree that prior to contact with 'Western culture’; traditional Nigerian communities had developed their indigenous technology by ecologically driven conditions of ingenuity.