The Nigerian art of survival: Nike Centre re-commodifies art and culture

This is an ethnography of the Nike Centre for Art and Culture (NCAC) located in Osogbo, Nigeria. In 1983 Oyenike Monica Omoye Ojo Twins Seven Seven Olaniyi Davies-Okundaye, better known as Nike and already internationally known for her batik art work, established the centre to teach young women art skills so they could generate an income independent of men. In tandem with this was the goal of preserving the Yoruba art of adire, a textile resist embellishment process where the cloth is dyed in natural indigo. The repertoire of media offered is varied, wedding arts from abroad with those from within, including batik, painting on rice paper, carving, quilting, reverse applique, embroidery, as well as the performance arts of drumming, singing, and dancing. Since its inception more than 1000 male and female students have been trained. Nike and her students have established an extensive global network that exists due to her talent in creating alliances from their travels abroad, coupled with foreign visitors coming to the centre to study an art form or simply observe. The nebulous and fluid environment in which the centre functions yields eclectic productions.; The research was carried out during 1996--97 when the author spent ten months at the Nike Centre learning the art of adire and indigo-dyeing. At the same time interviews were conducted with students, instructors and others affiliated with the centre. Additional interviews were carried out with artists and others familiar with the NCAC. Looking at the Nike Centre and how it has metamorphosed in student make-up, physical buildings, administration, and operation shows not only how economic and cultural forces circumscribe art production in Nigeria; it provides a microcosmic view of the workings of Nigeria itself.; This is a story about relationships between people and art and the economics that define them. This is a story about the art of survival.