ABSTRACT
Traditional marriage gives different groups and individuals the opportunity to showcase their glamorous attire e.g. a cultural group like “ikorodo” and others. In Nsukka, traditional marriage is viewed as a major event over white wedding with excessive display of costume and decorations that are patterned after the colour of the day by the chief celebrants (bride and groom). The dress code complements the traditional marriage ceremony within the Nsukka cultural environment. The couple chooses the same fabric sometimes with combined heavy embroidery to grace the occasion. The bride’s body is usually adorned with beautiful jewelries and beads especially the waist area (jigida).
Traditional marriages in Nsukka cultural environment entertains a lot of body costume and decorations that are used to make the individual appealing to sight judgment of spectators who applaud and appreciate the outfits. Nsukka is solely known for its dependent on costumes and decorations especially at traditional marriages.
Some of the costumes and decorations like decorative bead, embroidery (clothes of unique designs), hair dressing (different hair styles like weave-on) to mention but a few involved in the preparation of the different traditional marriages within the Nsukka cultural environment are exposed more to the individuals through the awareness of art education since it deals more on having a wider knowledge of the artistry or artistic items such as beads, farmers’ hat, traditional clay pots, woven baskets, twisted ropes, calabashes etc. used in traditional marriages in Nsukka.
The research work is organized under five chapters. Chapter one contained the introduction, chapter two dealt with the review of related literature while chapter three focused on the methods used for data collection and analysis. Chapter four elaborated on the discussions and results of the costumes and decorations used in Nsukka traditional marriages while chapter five delved into the summary, conclusion and recommendation.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The costume and paraphernalia one puts on is one of the means of judging the individual’s class and level in the society especially in Nsukka cultural environment. Festivals and ceremonies are seen as collective event even when an individual’s success is being celebrated. These ceremonies and other seasonal festive events provide opportunities for individuals and other cultural groups to showcase their glamorous attires. This is evident in the case of different cultural groups like “ikorodo” cultural dance and most importantly, traditional marriages within the Nsukka cultural environment which necessitated the researcher to carry this research work.
Traditional marriage is regarded as an important marriage rite among the Igbo. The ceremony is valued higher than church or registry weddings. In Nsukka, traditional marriage is characterized by excessive display of various costumes and decorations with regards to the colour chosen by the chief celebrants to make the occasion colourful and appealing. The theme of the traditional marriage (Igba Nkwu) with respect to dress code is important since it complements the traditional ceremony. The bride and groom choose the same fabric which is usually combined with heavy embroidery, beads and bangles. The bride’s body is adorned with beautiful ear rings, necklace, waist beads (jigida), bangles and her hair could be braided or woven with a beaded crown beautifying the head or opts to cover it with colourful headgear.
Traditional marriage ceremony in Nsukka is one of the events that showcase a lot of body costumes and decorations. In this, different forms of body make up and enhancement are applied to an individual. Spectators usually applaud and appreciate such outfits and appearances.
Nsukka cultural environment is known for its dependence on costume in separating the old people from the young ones, especially during festive periods. Wearers of these costumes,
like traditional rulers, title holders and some wealthy individuals, are aware of the searching eyes of the spectators who are on the lookout for interesting attires. This therefore portrays the fact that the environments, the wearers of the costume and the spectators or audience are all factors that determine the kind of costume one wears for a particular occasion.
Art is a visual language whose statement records man’s response to a multiplicity of environmental stimuli. Such stimuli can be social, political, cultural or even religious in closed or open societies (Enamhe, 2007). Art Education enables students to become creative arts practitioners (Ajekeye, 1982). Art education helps in the understanding and appreciation of some of the art materials used in the making of costumes and decoration in Nsukka traditional marriages such as beads, clay, fabrics, palm frond, calabash and other costume materials.
Since art implies the quality, technique, expression, production of aesthetic significance, therefore “art is a human conception made manifest by the skillful use of a medium. It signifies a doing, a making, a fashioning or putting together, and it usually implies that the thing is accomplished by human skills” (Uzoagba, 1982).
Apart from the foregoing, social and political groups in Igboland also have different means of identifying their members through their costumes. Aniakor (1985) stated that “in Igbo, bodies are sculpted, shaped, painted, draped, encircled and otherwise embellished with countless natural and man-made materials”. Therefore, enhancement of the body with marks, drawing, incisions and paintings form part of the life pattern in Igbo traditional society.
In Nsukka culture, costume making plays a vital role as it does in every Igbo culture. The Nsukka cultural zone sees costume making as a necessary part of their daily life. In Nsukka culture, costume making is not only for the women who practice theirs mostly with design and drawing on their body but also for the men who used white chalks within their eye region and chest as a show of spiritual maturity and superiority during festivals. Again, Aniakor (1985) stated that “men too sometimes dressed their hair and painted themselves to mark special events. This singular reason promoted and made individuals to design costumes, regalia, icons
and body markings (ichi) which are used in identifying members of their group (Aniakor, 1985). This assertion is highly witnessed in Igbo festivals like “Igba nkwu” (traditional marriage) in the Nsukka cultural zone where different women groups wear different clothes and scarves, while the men appear in different regalia that differentiates each group from the other.
In practice therefore, Nsukka has different costumes and decorations that are used and designed especially for different occasion and for different age grades. For instance, the title regalia of an “Ozo” (titled man) differ from that of “onye nze” (elderly man). The ones worn by titled women also differ from that of the men. This equally suggests that gender consideration is even observed when costumes and body decoration used in Nsukka are evaluated. In terms of age, certain age restrictions are placed on individuals before they can appear in particular attire. Children are sometimes restricted from wearing red or white caps to ceremonies especially as it is seen as a prerogative of a particular group or elders. Certain forms of beads, bangles, armlets and anklets like “aka” (a cast plastic arm band or necklace worn by titled men) “Ozo ebule” (a whitish wool from goat or ram as armlet) are strictly reserved for the titled men and women in Nsukka cultural area. Not even some aged persons who are not initiates of some sort are allowed to wear them.
Also, body marks, decorations and costumes are not only for decorations in Nsukka traditional marriages, they are sometimes symbolic inscriptions and apparels such as the historic traditional pot used as unavoidable decoration in “igba-nkwu” in Opi Nsukka. The symbols used as body paintings and enhancements sometimes appear on the walls and entrance gates of public places (obodo or otobo), shrine houses and residential homes of both the wealthy and the poor. For instance, the popular uli form known as “anya mmuo” (the eye of the spirit) that adorn different shrine houses and residential homes of strong and spiritual men is indicative of the continuous presence of the gods within such vicinity. Thus the gods watch over all actions that take place in such compounds.
Aniakor (1985) gave a comprehensive insight on this while talking on the Igbo body painting:
Several techniques, pigments and styles are used by both men and women to dye and pattern their bodies for display, yellow and red cam wood powders or pastes, along with white chalk, are often applied over large body surfaces for a variety of reasons. Some of these applications are strictly decorative, while others have spiritual and medicinal purposes.
The above highlight shows that the Igbo forms of body adornment and decoration carry a lot of visual dynamism and style as its features. Different interpretative and representational meanings are however inherent in them. These practice informed a system of apprenticeship where young girls are specially trained in the art of body enhancement.
In Nsukka, hair plaiting for instance became a skill that young girls learn and practice on each other as a means of individual help toward beautifying their outlook. Using an imported approach (the use of weave-on in plaiting their hair) in preparation for traditional marriage ceremony is widely practised.
Also, recently, the decoration of the arena for traditional marriage ceremony in Nsukka has shifted from the initial use of traditional art objects such as calabash, clay pot, traditional mat, traditional hat, basket and palm frond to the use of balloon and ribbons with various colours especially the colour of the day chosen by the celebrants.
These costumes and decorations are used as a form of art education where people learn occupations like bead making, blacksmithing, joinery and wood carving which are directly instrumental for the production of different types of title regalia like oji, oja, while the women are solely engaged in body paintings, pottery and other forms of costumes (DeMello 2000).
As a follow up, costumes and decorations in Nsukka cultural zone have proved to be a remarkable, artistic and enthusiastic practice which has permeated so many aspects of the people’s festive activities. Traditional ceremonies such as new yam festivals, oath taking, chieftaincy titles or coronations and even some Christian activities make use of different
costumes and decorations to get their members ready for ceremonies. Traditional marriages in Nsukka cultural environment entertain a lot of body decoration that are used to make the individual appealing to the sight judgment of spectators who applaud and appreciate the outfits. In Nsukka, costumes exhibit subtle meanings which can be used for cultural group and sex identification.
Changes in costume design in Nsukka reveal alterations in social relations. Men and women historically were separated by clothing styles that belong exclusively to their gender. Typically, women in the past have not physically toiled as hard as men and would subsequently wear garments of longer length. Women generally would also wear more jewelry than men. Status indication by costume was an important and powerful way to regulate and ensure social conformity. Humans, in the past and now have possessed a strong desire to impress others, costumes and decorations are also used for showcasing superiority and royalty in some cases.
In Nsukka culture, costumes and decorations indicate status in a number of ways; which may include the quantity, quality, and colour of material. Among these, colour classification is seen as a strong tool in identifying some secret cult groups and initiates of a particular age grade or social institution.
Currently, technology and new trends have evolved among the different Igbo communities and social groups that use body decoration and costumes as a means of group identification; because of certain western influence and the wholesome embrace of Christianity as a religious means of worship, most Igbo communities and individual presently consider some form of body markings and scarifications like tattooing and ichi as fetish and primitive.
Costume is an indicator of status through the utilization of garment quantity, color, decoration, and jewelry. Costume serves as a means of communication in social interactions among the Nsukka people. During traditional marriages, individuals, through the wearing of different costumes, not only reveal their personal identity but also make the ceremony colourful because “variety is the spice of life”. Costume and decoration serve as a powerful tool in
expressing and reinforcing subtle values, relationships, and meanings. Dressing while being a primarily personal activity is also a social one that reveals its values in Igbo traditional marriages within Nsukka cultural environment. People in a society first had to define their costume in cultural terms before they prescribed it with symbolic meaning (Ashcroft 1968). Without social interaction, symbolic meaning cannot be imparted. Costume as perceived symbols sometimes define social groups and provide vital reference information to others. Costume and decoration in Nsukka traditional marriage are basically to adorn the occasion (Oral Interview on Costume; Ugwuanyi 2015).
As a result, the art of body enhancement in Nsukka traditional marriage is mostly visible in costume making where beads, jewelry, clothes of different colours are now used as the reigning patterns of body enhancements. Significantly, these patterns of cloth and trinket enhancement on the body still play a great role in identifying different groups (such as Ikorodo cultural group and other people in their Aso-ebi both for the bride and the groom) involved in a particular occasion during the traditional marriage ceremony in Nsukka.
In Nsukka traditional marriage, “aso-ebi” is generally seen as a uniform attire worn by different groups considering the desired colour of the day chosen by the bride and groom. Also, according to Ajani (2012), Aso-ebi now includes a larger network of unfamiliarity, transcending the Yoruba ethnic group and gradually becoming an integral part of a nation culture particularly in Nsukka traditional marriages.
Nsukka cultural environment is found within Enugu state Southeast Nigeria. It shares boundaries with Enugu West along the Udi and Ezeagu axis as well as the Isi Uzo local government area along the Nkanu axis. According to naijasky.com, Nsukka is a town and Local Government Area in South-East Nigeria in Enugu State. Other towns that share common border with Nsukka, are Edem Ani, Ibagwa Ani, Opi, Orba, Nru, Eha-Alumona and Ede-Oballa. Other nearby towns include Enugu Ezike, Obollo-Afor (formerly centre of the palm oil trade), Nimbo, Adani, Uzo Uwani and Mkpologwu, now also lay claim to the name Nsukka but the research
work is focused on five different marriage ceremonies in Nsukka cultural area while Opi is core research area by researcher.
Opi is one of the towns in the Nsukka cultural environment known for her rich cultural activities in respect to the effective use of costume and decoration in traditional marriage. Opi has three clans that make it up. The three clans are Idi, Ibeku and Ogbazalla.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The level of art appreciation or creativity undertaken in the preparation of costumes and decorations in traditional marriages among the five different areas of study-Opi, Nru, Orba, Eha-Alumona and Ede-oballa has changed in the last two decades. New costumes, decorative ideas and creativity from neighbouring communities and beyond are now being imported and incorporated in the making of contemporary costumes among the five areas mentioned especially Opi, Nsukka people.
Lack of proper understanding of the word “costume” has over the years made it difficult for scholars and the general society to understand the socio – cultural, economic, artistic and creative meaning and content associated with the above word. This has also made it difficult for the society to appreciate and understand the various creative and cultural transformations that is re-shaping various creative styles, materials, ideas, forms of costumes and decorations in traditional marriages among the Opi, Nsukka people.
It is in line with this cultural transformation that this research seeks greater understanding and meaning of the word “costume” in order to fully understand and appropriate the art and creativity involved in the preparation of costumes and decoration within the contemporary traditional marriage.
Some people use “weave-on” an attachment used by the maidens for different hair styles) instead of traditionally plaited hair style usually adorned with beads. Balloon and ribbon
are used recently in the decoration of some of the arena or venue for traditional marriage in
Nsukka instead of the use of calabash, palm frond, farmer’s hat.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study are to;
(1) identify the art deposits in the costume and decoration items used in the traditional marriages in Nsukka.
(2) determine the level of artistry in the identified items.
(3) determine the applicability of the items of costuming and decorations as resources for art education.
(4) appraise the art educational implications of costuming and decorations in the Nsukka traditional marriage.
1.4 Scope of the Study
The area of the study is focused on five different marriage ceremonies in Nsukka cultural area.
1.5 Significance of the Study
This research work reveals the level of art appreciation or creativity undertaken in the preparation of costumes and decorations in traditional marriages among Nsukka people.
It reveals greater understanding and meaning of the word “costume” among different people within the Nsukka cultural environment.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
COSTUME AND DECORATION IN NSUKKA TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE AS RESOURCE FOR ART EDUCATION
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