The European “African print” and the direction of authentic African print design efforts in Nigeria

Abstract

The paper investigates the nature of machine-produced fabriccommercially termed “African prints” by focusing on a select sampleof these prints. It establishes that the general design characteristics ofthese prints are an amalgam of mainly Javanese, Indian, Chinese,Arab and European artistic traditions. Attempts at providing designswhich are authentically African in content were made by Littrell, anAmerican-Africanist scholar, and by many art schools in Nigeria.The paper examines these attempts, especially those providedby the art students in order to chart their design direction. It isreassuring that their sources of design inspiration come from a widerange of African textile traditions and African worldviews, particularly from African objects. However, the Indonesian (Javanese) batik still poses a major challenge to the development of authentic African print designs.

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