Nigeria

One of our earliest projects, in association with the British Council, supported a selected group of Hausa crafts people in diverse areas of work including architectural deco- ration, embroidery, decorative gourds, pottery, leatherwork, calligraphy, whitesmith and textiles.

The programme of workshops responded to the use of local patterns and decoration found in Kano’s architecture and crafts. The workshops offered artisans the means of generating new designs through group initiatives that mo- tivated and bound them as a community through common identity. This initiative was consolidated by a group exhibi- tion at Terra Kulture gallery in Lagos – a unique experience for many of the artisans who had never travelled outside Kano, and from which they benefited with increased sales and commissions. The outcome of this project was the formation of Craft and Design Development Association Kano (CADDAK) ‒ a group of academics, entrepreneurs, artists and craftspeople focused on sustaining artistic craft traditions for later generations