Asị Ụkwụ: Worn by young girls & maidens. Decoration. Beautification.
Precious materials: cowry, brass, cloth, ivory, glass.
At ceremonies, dancers wore them to accentuate the power of the feminine: the body & its femininity.
The waist, the hips, the movement. A mark of initiation in to female-hood You wear them as a girl.
When you come of age, a wrapper; to show you’ve matured.
Igbo Jigida dancers. Photo: Viewcards Nigeria
Asi ukwu · April 2019
Ten metres. One month of full days.
Strung by hand : cowrie, brass bell, coral.
The girl was adorned. The woman adorns.
