Designs of the past, Art of the Future: A survey of Uli Symbolic Motifs of the Igbo and their Adaptation to Woven Rugs in Contemporary Textile Art

Abstract

Rugs play important roles in furnishing homes and offices. They add to the aesthetics and also warm up these places in case of cold weather. Apart from keeping the room warm, they could also be hung on the walls purely for aesthetic purposes. And whatsoever that is hung up on the wall for people to see, attracts lots of attention either by criticism or appreciation. In the past, uli symbolic motifs of the Igbo speaking area in Nigeria, were used to decorate the bodies of humans and walls of houses, but this practice is almost going moribund. These symbolic motifs are highly decorative and connote the Igbo world view. As such, this paper upholds that when they are transferred onto rugs as surface designs, they may be able to aid their sustainability in the world of interior decoration and designs. The research designs employed in this study are descriptive survey and studio exploration. It is a mixed method research. Qualitative analysis and some statistical tools of percentages and bar charts were used to analyze the data collected. The research instruments used in this study are questionnaire, photography and observations. One among the many findings of this study reveals that the Uli traditional designs, being designs of the past are suitable for decorating woven rugs and some other art works of the future by giving them indigenous identity. It summarily recommends that these decorative motifs should be utilized in art and designs quite often in order to aid their sustainability.