Lecture and Trunk Show with Gasali Adeyemo

Tie-dye moon and stars textile design with indigo by Gasali Adeyemo, 2019. Photo credit: Inga Hendrickson

Join us for an intimate evening of storytelling to learn about the ritual, symbolism, and artistry of Yoruba textile traditions. Artist Gasali Adeyemo will share his personal journey and involvement with the Nike Centre for the Arts at Osogbo, Nigeria—a cultural organization instrumental in keeping Yoruba textile arts alive—which helped launch his career. Adeyemo continues this legacy by sharing his work to an international audience. Afterwards, there will be a reception to meet the artist and the opportunity to purchase hand-dyed fabrics from his collection. 

Gasali Adeyemo is from a rural village, Ofatedo, located in Osun State Nigeria. From a young age, he realized his artistic potential and spent time sketching for commission and working on village farms to provide income to complete his academic education. In 1990, he discovered the Nike Center for Arts and Culture, Osogbo, Nigeria. He apprenticed there for many years mastering traditional Yoruba textile arts and devoting time to teaching incoming students. Over the years, the popularity of the Nike Center attracted people from all over the world to study and enrich their understanding of the arts and culture of the Yoruba people. Adeyemo’s long years of service to the Nike Center paid off, his artwork gained notoriety, and soon he was traveling and exhibiting around the world sharing the arts and culture of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. He currently resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.