LADI, kwali

Ceramicist Birth: In Kwali, Niger State. Died in August 1984. Training: Learned pottery-making as apprentice to a relative, beginning around the age of nine. Profile: Joined Abuja Pottery Centre, Abuja, 1954, now named Ladi Kwali Pottery Centre; conducted workshops and exhibited in London, 1958, 1959, 1962, in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, 1963; conducted workshops in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and other major cities in the United States, 1964-1965; gave workshops and demonstrations in the Washington, DCarea in the 1970s; lectured and gave demonstrations at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Made pots by hand, decorated with Gwari symbolic motifs; used open firing with herbal glazes; her pots, neither wholly sacred nor utilitarian, were created for collectors. Her Western-type ceramics, such as dishes, cups and saucers, were wheel-thrown. Kwali 269 Group Exhibitions "Art from Africa of our Time," Phelps-Stokes Fund, New York, USA, December 28, 1961-January 19, 1962. Tenth International Exhibit of Ceramic Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1964. [traveled to Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago, USA]. "African Craftsmen in America," Morgan State College, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Montgomery College, Rockville, Maryland, USA; Museum of African Art, Washington, DC; Howard University, Washington, DC; Roosevelt High School, Washington, DC; Renwick Gallery, Washington DC, May 1-6, 1972. "Contemporary African Arts," Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA, April 20-November 3, 1974. FESTAC'77, Lagos, 1977. "National Art Exhibition," National Theatre, Lagos, September 26-October 5, 1983. "Nigerian Women in Arts," National Gallery of Crafts&Design, Lagos, March 2-7, 1987. "Nitour '88," Murtala Mohammed Square Auditorium, Kaduna, November 25- December 4, 1988. (Exhibited the last clay pot made by Ladi Kwali). Awards & Honors Honorary Doctorate, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 1977; Officer of The Order of the Niger, 1981; SilverAward for Excellence, Tenth International Exhibit of Ceramic Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1965; Fellow (posthumous), Asele Institute, Nimo, 1985. Public Collections Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva, Switzerland. City Art Gallery, York, England. National Museum, Lagos. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Two large ceramic, glazed water jars, 1961 and 1972. Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Bibliography Cardew, Michael. "Pioneer Pottery at Abuja," Nigeria Magazine (Lagos) 52: 52, 38- 59, 1956. illus. Duerden, Dennis. "Nigeria's Art," Nigeria Magazine (Lagos) [Special Independence Issue] October 1960, pages 20-33. illus. Cardew, Michael. "Firing the Big Pot at Kwali," Nigeria Magazine (Lagos) no. 70: 199-205, September 1961. illus. [None by Ladi Kwali]. Slye, Jonathon. "Abuja Stoneware," Ceramics Monthly (Columbus, OH) October 1966, pages 12-16. illus. Nigeria Magazine (Lagos) 93: 127, June 1967. [illus. only]. Abuja Pottery. Produced by AlisterHallum, 1971. 22 minutes (color). Distributed by Michigan State University, Instructional Media Center, East Lansing, MI48824. [Film of pot-making at the Abuja Training Center and at a Gwari village in northern Nigeria, featuring Ladi Kwali]. African Craftsmen in America; [demonstrations by Ladi Kwali and Kofi Athey, lectures by Michael Cardew in Maryland, USA: Morgan State College, Baltimore Museum of Art, Montgomery College, and Washington, DC:Museum of African Art, Howard University, Roosevelt High School, Renwick Gallery, May 1-6, 1972] / sponsored by American Crafts Council, World Crafts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and Maryland State Arts Council, [folder. 4]pp. illus. Cardew, Michael. "Ladi Kwali," Craft Horizons (New York) 32 (2): 34-37, April 1972. illus. African Arts (Los Angeles) 6 (4) summer 1973. [inside front cover illustration (color); photograph by Frank Willett]. 270 Lasekan Wahlman, Maude. Contemporary African Arts. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1974. 124pp. illus. (somecolor). See pages 28-30. Wahlman, Maude. "A Festival of Contemporary Arts," [preview of an exhibition entitled "Art in Africa Today", Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago]. African Arts (Los Angeles) 7 (3): 16-17, 69-71, spring 1974. illus. Wahlman, Maude. 'The Contemporary African Arts Festival," [review of an exhibition entitled "Art in Africa Today" held at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, April 20-November 3, 1974], Field Museum ofNatural History Bulletin (Chicago) 45 (4): 3-8, April 1974. illus. (color). Armstrong, Robert Plant. "Art in Africa Today," [review of an exhibition held at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, April 20-November 3, 1974]. African Arts (Los Angeles) 7 (4): 72-74, summer 1974. illus. Cardew, Michael. "Michael Cardew: AView of African Pottery," Ceramics Monthly (Columbus, OH)33 (2): 17-22, February 1974. illus., bibliog. Bandler, Jane &Donald Bandler. "The Pottery of Ushafa," African Arts (Los Angeles) 10 (3): 26-31, April 1977. illus. [None by Ladi Kwali]. Aliyu, Danlami. "Nigerian Pottery Tradition and New Technique," Pottery Quarterly; AReview ofCrafts Pottery (Tring, England) 13 (52): 151-188, 1980. illus. [None by Ladi Kwali]. Na'Allah, Saidu. Gwari Pottery and the Pottery Training Center-Abuja. EdD dissertation, Columbia University Teachers College, NewYork, 1980. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 1980. 255pp. illus., bibliog. Ojo, Albert O. "TheContributions of Contemporary Artists in Nigerian Cultures," pp. 87-108. In the author's The Role ofArt in Promoting Cultural Heritage and Art Education in Nigeria: A Pedagogical Assemblage, PhD dissertation, Columbia University, 1984, Ann Arbor, University Microfilms International, 1985. illus., bibliog. Agberia, John-Tokpabere. AStudy of Indigenous and Modern Techniques of Abuja Pottery. MFA thesis, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 1988. 86pp., 51 plates, illus., bibliog. Ifejika-Obukwelu, Kate. Igbo Pottery in Nigeria: Issues ofForm, Style and Technique. EdD dissertation, Columbia University, New York, 1990. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 1990. 213pp. illus. Seepages 101-105. LaDuke, Betty. Africa Through the Eyes ofWomen Artists. Trenton: AfricaWorld Press, 1991. 148pp. illus. See pages 16-20.