MMA NWULI (ULI DYE APPLICATORS)
[1,2,5,8]: MMA NWULI (ULI DYE APPLICATORS)
[3,11]: In these clips from “The Poetics of Line: Seven Artists of the Nsukka Group” (an exhibition short film about uli’s influence on the practices of the seven contemporary artists of the Nsukka group), an Igbo woman deftly draws on uli motifs on her body using mma nwuli and another decorates the wall with uli motifs using another tool and colored pigment
[4]: A woman decorates another’s back with uli, using a tool (either a metal mma nwuli or a stick)
[6]: Elegant uli painted on a woman’s neck
[7,9]: Uli lines and motifs on the calf and foot of an Igbo woman
[12]: Anambra women in front of a wall of uli they’ve expertly paintedFrom: Igbo culture, Nigeria 🇳🇬Source [1,2,4,6-10,12]: @ukpuru
Source [3,11]: @smithsonianafricanart (@ukpuru). Viewed on YouTube
Source [5]: @sciencemuseum
Source notes [1,2,8]:
“Igbo iron cosmetic application tools for applying uri (or uli) body art. Bought 1946 from an Awka market for the British Museum Archives. Uri last for about a week.”
Source notes [3,11]:
“Interviews of the seven artists featured in the exhibition held at the National Museum of African Art. Includes footage from Nsukka and images of the artists at work.”
Source notes [4]:
“An Igbo woman is painting a persons back, presumably with uri, 1930s. Photo: Winifred Yeatman.”
Source notes [5]:
“Set of 5 steel tattooing instruments for drawing "Uli" on the body (mma Nwa Nwuli) also used in painting the body with dyes from juices, Southern Nigerian, 1880-c. 1920; all 5 instruments identical, slight differences in size 17 cm between longest and shortest”
Source notes [6]:
“ULI PAINTING. MGBALA AGWA, 1983. Liz Willis”
Source notes [10]:
“A[N IGBO] GIRL IS PAINTED WITH ULI PATTERNS. UGBENE, 1983. From “Uli Painting and the Igbo World View, African Arts, Vol. 23, No. 1” by Liz Willis”
Source notes [12]:
“Wall painters in front of their work. Nimo. [Anambra State, Nigeria. From “Compound Entryway Decoration Male Space and Female Creativity” by Fred T. Smith, 1986.”Observations: standardization, multipurpose design, visual contrast (thick, narrow handle and wide, flat blade), material intelligence, material manipulation to create different parts of the form (twisting vs hammering flat), women in (graphic) design.