MODIFICATION OF NIGERIAN TRADITIONAL MEN’S HORIZONTAL LOOM TO ENHANCE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE NARROW BAND FABRIC

ABSTRACT

Traditional weavers are faced with more than the usual problems of artists in terms of public exposure and recognition. Very few people who buy hand-woven products have the background to understand the time and effort that was behind the production of their materials. The aim of this study is to revive the traditional men‟s horizontal loom by constructing a modified loom that will serve as a model for mass production to sustain Nigerian traditional weaving industry and form the basis for experimental research in small scale textile machinery production. The methods used in this study were: field practical and participant observation methods for the construction of the modified loom with the help of carpenters and metal workers who produced the loom parts according to the drawings of the researcher. The main objectives of this study were successful, because the mechanised modified loom constructed can weave. Out of the thirteen samples woven by the researcher, three of the samples march the targeted traditional woven fabrics they are the Sawaye, Zugu and Turkudi woven fabrics. After interviewing all the five groups in this study area all of them did not agree with the first basic assumption which states that the Modified loom products are of a better quality than the Indigenous loom products. Even those who fairly agreed that the modified loom products were stronger than the traditional loom products also agreed that in terms of prestige they too will prefer the traditional loom products. The time spent in the production of the narrow strip turkudi veil and the fact that it is considered a treasured item, the cost of this fabric is not within the reach of the well to do Nigerians not to talk of the poor. When the manufacture of the traditional fabrics is perfected on the modified loom it could compete with the traditional cloth, substitute and even bring down the prices of the traditional fabric if the Chinese methods are followed. The Hausa Turkudi industry, still in active operation in Kura town and its environs in Nigeria today, is over a thousand years old and represents one of the longest runs of textiles fashion in human history. The traditional horizontal loom fabrics though having value and prestige are going out of extinction because the marketers are already relying on the second hand clothes, referring to them as the best product in the market now. The modified loom would produce a weave equivalent to the works of up to 42 traditional weavers at the same time. The modified traditional men‟s horizontal loom should not only be motorised, but should be computerized and be a foundation for textile machinery production, if the Indian experience is to be followed for proper industrial development. Our textile technologists should design a programme for textile machine design education facilities which will be strengthened by supporting a postgraduate programme covering textile electronics and loom computer control systems. Government, the textile manufacturers and the association of textile technologists should come together under one roof and invest in research and development (R&D) for the production of indigenous machines that will form the basis of textile machinery manufacture.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   INTRODUCTION

Nigeria is located between the Lake Chad and the Niger Delta, with thick tropical forests in the south and far ranging grasslands in the north. Nigerians are dynamic people with troubled history, during which great kingdoms were formed. The kingdoms were composed of diverse people and cultures. The people came into contacts with advanced cultures from the earliest times by way of trade from the Sudan in the north. These advanced cultures were readily accepted and integrated. Every culture, according to Collingwood (1981) “had its own special textiles – recognizable and distinct from all others, some functional, some ceremonial, and some simply woven, some amazingly complex.”

Weaving according to Joseph (1980) “is one of the oldest arts known….though no actual looms from early civilizations survived, fabrics of fine quality have been found in the tombs of ancient Egypt and designs on very old pottery provide indisputable evidence of early skills in weaving.” According to Broudy (1979), “the loom was treated only incidentally- usually in a „how to weave‟ context, rarely historical. I learned that, in general, writers on weaving concerned themselves primarily with textiles, drafts, yarns, colours and patterns and discussed looms only as much as was necessary to describe how to tie on a pattern.”

Traditional weavers are faced with more than the usual problems of artists in terms of public exposure and recognition. Very few people who buy hand-woven products have the background to understand the time and effort that was behind the production of their materials. The art of traditional cloth and cloth making in Nigeria have been separated from its industrial progress. Traditional weaving has less attention being paid when it comes to adaptation to suit Nigerian market needs. Traditional weaving is still revered, preserving the old ways, which is culturally and historically important, but it has little to do with the economic development of the country, which needs improvement.

According to Lamb and Holmes (1980) “It is a fact that, on the whole, the ethnographers of the colonial period were not very interested in cloth and cloth making… while post colonial students of Nigeria material culture, have tended to look more at the art of the dyer than the weaver.” In many parts of Nigeria traditional weaving is fast disappearing, unable to face the competition of factory made cloth. As stated by Lamb and Holmes (1980) “we hope that our work, presented in this book may be of some help in preserving the memory of weavers confronted with this distressing fate.”

According to Mehta (1985) “the rapid growth of the textile industry in India in the first of this century was largely due to the “Swadeshi Movement” inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, which stressed the importance of self-reliance. There has been a considerable boost in activity in the textile machinery, having imbibed all types of technologies from almost all the developed countries.” The traditional weaver spends much time in producing a piece of material, so the price of his product does not compensate with the time spent in the production, and that keeps him out of the market.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

There are many schools of thought about Nigeria‟s technological development. Some believe in constant importation of foreign technology since the nation is still developing, others want development from the grassroots level; and some want the adaptation of the foreign technology to suit the Nigerian situation. Adetoro (1980) feels that development from the grassroots level is more adequate. He said “what is, important is for the present Nigeria textiles producers to translate the mechanics of the traditional looms to contemporary types.”

According to Dutsenwai (2009) “the indigenous Hausa technology of textiles production and services such as indigenous hand spinning, weaving and indigo dyeing have been fatally influenced by modern technology.”

The problem of this study therefore is to the construct a modified loom model that can be replicated to enhance productivity of the traditional men‟s horizontal loom in the weaving of the narrow band fabric.

1.3      AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study is to revive traditional men‟s horizontal loom through the development of the modified loom model that can enhance productivity in the weaving of the narrow strip fabric.

1.4   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of this study are to:

1. Modify and construct a men‟s horizontal loom that will serve as a model for mass production to sustain Nigerian traditional weaving industry.
2. Produce a loom that can weave in strips form, multiplying the works of many traditional weavers at the same time.
3. Construct a loom that can encourage narrow strip traditional cloth weaving that can enhance productivity.
4. Produce a fabric that can be acceptable to the users and marketers of traditional narrow strip Nigerian woven dress.
5. Produce a modified traditional loom that could be the basis for experimental research in small scale textile machinery production.

1.5   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following were the research questions issued as guide to the study.

1. What is the productive structure of the existing Nigerian men‟s traditional horizontal loom?
2. Can the traditional horizontal loom be structurally modified to enhance its production capacity?
3. Could the production output of the modified loom replace the works of the already disappearing narrow-strip weaving craftsmen?
4. Could the products of the modified loom be acceptable to the users of the narrow strip traditional dress

1.6      BASIC ASSUMPTIONS

The assumptions of this study are that the Nigerian men‟s traditional horizontal loom is effective in terms of narrow strip weaving. This weaving industry should therefore be revived in terms of production quality and quantity;

1. The modified loom model could produce better quality fabric than the narrow horizontal traditional loom.

2. The narrow horizontal loom products are of better quality than the products of the modified loom products.
3. The narrow horizontal traditional loom could be replaced by the modified loom.
4. The narrow strip traditional fabric could flourish once again in our markets. 

5. The modified loom products could be accepted as the narrow strip traditional fabrics.

1.7    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Traditional weaving is historically, one of the greatest contributions of Nigeria to the textiles crafts of the world. Unfortunately traditional weaving industry in Nigeria is disappearing without replacement in the area of improving the Nigerian traditional woven fabric. The traditional loom should be modified and improved in terms of capacity and production output. Many nations do invest in research work and encourage the use of local materials, the result of which became useful at the time of emergency. The production of the modified loom and data collection of this study has great potentials to develop concepts and insights into the learning phenomenon in the visual arts and enhance industrial production. The modified loom can be used as teaching aid by educational institutions where weaving is offered as a course. According to Ada (1985) “Most Nigerian institutions of higher learning where weaving were being run as an academic course, depends extensively on the use of imported materials, including the looms.” He went on to add, “Individuals and organizations who would have loved to include the contemporary institutionalized type of weaving in their programmes are still largely held back due to the shortage of looms.” The construction of the modified loom and the data collection on this study has great potentials in developing the institutionalized type of training in the weaving craft.

The socio-cultural significance of this study is the product of the modified loom which is dress fabric. According to Maiwada (2008) “dress is an important component of our daily lives. Through clothing, individuals establish their sense of self as well as their place in society.” He went on to say that, “our leaders for instance, both traditional and political, use dresses as a symbol of power and charisma. The traditional rulers put on large, costly and heavily embroidered robes along with turbans especially in the Muslim dominated areas. This obviously makes them look huge, flamboyant and elegant. As such their subjects look at them enviously and sometimes fearfully.” So they are upheld as a source of authority. Another aspect of this study that will help socio-culturally is the training of youth and the revival of the production of the disappearing traditional narrow strip fabric weaving.

The economic significance of this study is the transformation of the traditional men‟s narrow horizontal loom from traditional to a modified mechanised loom which could be organized into industrially based small scale textiles centres. Lamb and Holmes (1980) stated that “many of the rural weavers whom we have encountered in Hausa land were old men. Every where we were told of the reluctance of boys to learn the craft, which has to compete in attraction with the opportunities offered by the fantastic economic development of Northern Nigeria in recent years.” With the increase in production output of the modified loom, youth will be encouraged to participate fully in the craft. The products of the modified loom could be used locally and could even be exported conveying traditional Nigerian designs which will serve a useful economic purpose for the nation.

The technological and industrial significance of this study is that the modified loom could be the basis of establishing an industrial and technological research institute for the development of textile machinery. Abbes (1965) expressed that, “although not all hand-weaving have contributed to industrial textiles, it was through the stimulating influence of the hand-weaving that the industry was becoming aware of new textiles possibilities.”

1.8    JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

This research programme was undertaken as a result of calls and recommendations by some researchers who unanimously agreed that research on indigenous small scale handcrafted textiles would enhance and change their status from traditional to modern small scale textiles centres these researchers include Adetoro (1980), Ada (1985) and Dutsenwai (1985). Some research studies were conducted on the indigenous textiles like the studies of Renne (2002), Gillow (2003) and Dutsenwai (2009) but none was specifically focused on the traditional horizontal loom, the works of Shea (1979) and Ada (1985) were well noted.

The following were the justifications of the study:

1. The modified traditional horizontal loom will serve as instructional materials for teaching and learning.

2. It will also serve as an efficient machine for mass production and a source of income.
3. It will also serve as means of reducing the level of unemployment as faced by the Nation.
4. The study when concluded will pave ways of the renaissance of the dead textile industry in Nigeria.

1.8   SCOPE AND DELIMITATION TO THE MODIFICATION OF THE

TRADITIONAL MEN’S HORIZONTAL LOOM.

The production of the modified traditional men‟s horizontal loom serves as a model for replication to sustainable narrow strip fabric production. The scope of this study therefore is Kura Local Government Area in Kano State. The study has been delimitated to Kura town in Kano State. The reason for selecting Kura town as the study area is because it is a centre for indigo dyeing and traditional weaving. Almost all the traditional men‟s horizontal looms can be found there