Book: The Woman With the Artistic Brush: A Life History of Yoruba Batik Artist Nike Davies

The Woman With the Artistic Brush: A Life History of Yoruba Batik Artist Nike Davies (Foremother Legacies)

Product Description
Nike Davies is one of the few African women known internationally in contemporary art circles. The Woman with the Artistic Brush traces her life history and illustrates the strategies developed by women to mitigate male rule. Presenting a critique of the woman's place in contemporary Yoruba society from the perspective of a woman who lived it, this book covers Nike's life from the time of her mother's death when Nike was six to the culmination of her dream in the creation, against severe societal odds, of a center for arts and culture that has over 120 members.

Along the way, The Woman with the Artistic Brush details how Nike ran away from home and joined a traveling theater group after her father tried to arrange her marriage, subsequently married and joined in the polygynous household of a noted artist from the popular Osogbo school, and finally broke clear of that situation after suffering sixteen years of domestic violence. The Woman with the Artistic Brush is another superb contribution to the Foremother Legacies series.

Ananse Village: African Crafts and Textiles

Africa is a continent rich in artistic expression. From the beautiful Ilala palm baskets made by members of the Zulu tribe in South Africa, traditional tonga basket from Zambia, the percussive traditions of the djembe, brekete , ashiko, djun-djun, balaphone, kpanolgo, atsimevu and don-don drums of West Africa, to the magnificent kente cloth, bologanfini (mudcloth), kuba cloth and batik textiles of the continent, the cultural heritage of Africa is expressed.

We are proud to offer the finest traditional African crafts produced in a fair trade environment. By working directly with village artisans we are able to positively affect the economic development in the most needy areas. Ananse Village is dedicated to supporting small scale production by talented craftspeople. A portion of our profits helps provide medical care and educational opportunities to the communities we work with.

Fabric and Art.Com

FabricAndArt.com we are excited to be statrting a new journey, directing our entire fabric collection to a high quality, sustainable collection of the worlds finest fabric. Our focus is on natural fibers, that are manufactured in as low impact a way as possible.

The quilt fabric industry is slowly catching on to the movement of environmental responsibility, though we have a ways to go before we can truly call fabric manufacture sustainable. Therefore even though we have a large selection of quality quilt fabric, we are always searching for new, greener fabrics. Hopefully before long we will be able to offer more and more selection of sustainable fabrics

Proudly we've been on the forefront of offering Hemp and Organic cotton fabrics, and now have added soy and bamboo fabrics to the mix! These types of alternative fibers are an important growing industry.

We are also proud to offer fair trade fabrics. Handcrafted batik fabrics from Ghana as well as Vietnamese brocade and woven silk shantung from Cambodia.

As always our selection of Indonesian batik fabrics and Bali handpaints are a true celebration of the Balinesian ancient art.

We have a range of other fabrics including our most popular Japanese quilt fabrics and Aborigine-designed fabrics from Australia. Since India is one of the largest manufacturers of silks and cotton we are seeking sustainable, fair trade fabrics, please visit our pages to check on availability of Indian loomed cottons and silks.