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African Colors

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-891

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; The Black Diaspora Quilt History Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

00.0655

If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:

2000:66.1

Object label:

African Colors
Raifu Aderemi Mustapha
Nigeria
1998
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#2000:66.1

Essay:

The Nike Center for Arts and Culture was established in 1988 in Osogbo, Nigeria by Nike Olaniyi Davies-Okundaye.

Shortly after the center opened, Georgina Beier, a European, taught members how to make quilts out of their cloth and found that the men were more enthusiastic than women about this new art form. Yoruba artist Rafiu "Remi" Mustapha, "My quilt is trying to talk about unity in Africa as a whole the way I used the different colors of fabric."

From Great Lakes, Great Quilts.

Quilt's title:

African Colors

Quilt top made by:

Mustapha, Raifu Aderemi

Quilted by:

Mustapha, Raifu Aderemi

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Purchased the quilt

Where the quilt was made, city:

Osogbo

Where the quilt was made, country:

Nigeria

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt finished?

12/1998

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's city:

Osogbo

Quiltmaker's country:

Nigeria

Quiltmaker's birth date:

2/2/1973

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Nigerian Yoruba

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

93 3/4"

How long is the quilt?

93"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

Number of quilt blocks:

6

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:

Adire dying, a method that is used by the Yoruba people that incorporates ancient Indigo dyes with modern stitching techniques.

Describe the sources of the quilt's materials:

The origins of the fabric are Senegal, Mali, Nigeria and Gambia.

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

Great Lakes, Great Quilts (2001) book, page 20.

Source of the information on this quilt:

Museum employee

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public- Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's name:

Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's city:

East Lansing

Quilt owner's county:

Ingham

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Purchase

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

9/28/2000, Black Arts Studio, Nigeria

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?

Made entire quilt

Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

Special note from the artist: The inspiration comes as a means of uniting and bring together the people of Africa. Most of the country in Africa has a lot of things in common in their social, economical and religion lives. My quilt is trying to talk about unity in African as a whole with the way I used the different colors of fabric.

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum

Cite this Quilt

Mustapha, Raifu Aderem. African Colors. 12/1998. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; The Black Diaspora Quilt History Project. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-891. Accessed: 03/28/24

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