Post Adire: Reframing Indigenous Technology
June 2023
Adeju Thompson’s residency continued Kerstin Pinther’s collaboration with LSP within the framework of reorganising the Benin galleries in 2022. Since then his adire (Yoruba) fabrics and jewellery pieces, made in collaboration with Phil Omodamwen, a bronze caster from Benin City, have been part of the permanent display.
![[Translate to English:] Adeju Thompson](/fileadmin/_processed_/6/3/csm_CoMuse_Fellow_Adeju_Thompson_f343a8b45c.jpg)
In the course of his residency, Thompson researched not only the museum’s library but also its West African textile collection – the outcome is a new version of the agbada, now transformed into a knitwear garment with a futuristic-looking design yet evoking the tactile memory of “traditional” layering systems and wearing habits.
“Historically in Yoruba society, the adire artist engaged with the medium as a process of storytelling for themselves and their community. I find parallels with code sharing in contemporary subcultures. In modern times, queer communities have also shared stories and messages through languages, symbols and gestures that carry meaning only within these groups. In addition to exploring queer semiotics, the collection is also a study of minimalism from an African point of view.”
— Adeju Thompson
Adeju Thompson is the founder of Lagos Space Programme (LSP). Established in 2018, the fashion label stands for a paradigmatic dialogue in African design between contemporary art, Gestaltung and crafts, as exemplified in its cooperation with dyers and bronze casters. The award-winning designs of LSP are also part of important collections, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, and have been featured at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.