West Africa · Northern Nigeria · Niger

Hausa

Islamic geometry, indigo textiles and Sahel architecture — Hausa visual culture from northern Nigeria and Niger.

Janus 1 by Ibrahim Buhari Gambo
On the cover: Janus 1 · Ibrahim Buhari Gambo
Works
3
Artists
1
Shop this heritageCultural Passport
Homeland
Northern Nigeria and southern Niger
Language
Hausa, spoken across West Africa
Historic cities
Kano, Katsina, Zaria
Known for
Indigo dyeing, embroidery, earth architecture

The tradition

About Hausa

Hausa culture centres on the old city-states of northern Nigeria and southern Niger, among them Kano, Katsina and Zaria.

Trade across the Sahara and centuries of Islamic scholarship shaped its art: dyed and embroidered cloth, decorated earth architecture and calligraphy.

Kano's Kofar Mata dye pits have produced indigo cloth for over five centuries. The drawings here carry that discipline of line and pattern.

Zen Flower
Zen Flower · Ibrahim Buhari Gambo

Visual language

Motifs to look for

Symbols and forms that recur across this tradition, and that artists here draw on.

  1. Indigo

    The deep blue of Kano's dye pits, beaten to a sheen.

  2. Babban riga

    The wide gown, embroidered at the chest in spiral patterns.

  3. Dagi

    The interlaced Hausa knot, used on walls, cloth and leather.

  4. Zanko

    The horn-like pinnacles that crown Hausa earth buildings.

  5. Ajami

    Hausa written in Arabic script, used for poetry and records.

  6. Geometry

    Repeating, interlaced pattern drawn from Islamic art.

Look closer

The tradition in the work

What to look for, in each work's Cultural Passport.

Janus 1

Ibrahim Buhari Gambo

  • Back-to-back profilesone face to the past, one to the future
  • Central flowerthe present, blooming between the two gazes
  • Crowned birdssmall sovereign figures beneath each face

Janus 2

Ibrahim Buhari Gambo

  • Mirrored profilesone person, facing two directions at once
  • Hatched teardropsa mark of feeling beneath each steady eye
  • Black diamondthe jewel where both gazes divide

The collection

The works

Shop all 3 works
Square black-and-white illustration of two mirrored profiles facing outward, heavy brows and hatched marks under the eyes, large roundels above and a black diamond at the centre.
STU. 20/20

Curator's Note

Janus 2 moves in close: two heavy-browed profiles fill the square, a hatched teardrop beneath each eye, a black diamond hanging where they …

Hausa

Janus 2

Ibrahim Buhari GamboIbrahim B. G.

From$45· Studio Edition· Stu. Ed.

Square black-and-white pattern drawing of a central five-petal flower with curling banded petals, surrounded by dense leaves, scrolls, hatching and straight radiating lines.
STU. 20/20

Curator's Note

Start at the white star in the centre and follow one petal outward. Ibrahim packs leaves, scrolls and hatching so densely that every return…

Hausa

Zen Flower

Ibrahim Buhari GamboIbrahim B. G.

From$45· Studio Edition· Stu. Ed.

Black-and-white illustration in playing-card format: two mirrored profiles facing outward, a central flower, crowned birds, roundels, sunburst rays and corner rosettes.
STU. 60/60

Curator's Note

Two faces in profile, back to back, and a flower opening exactly between them. Ibrahim gives the Roman god of doorways a playing-card symme…

Hausa

Janus 1

Ibrahim Buhari GamboIbrahim B. G.

From$55· Studio Edition· Stu. Ed.

See all 3 works

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Named creators

The artists

All artists
Artwork by Ibrahim Buhari GamboUndeclared

Ibrahim Buhari Gambo

Abuja, Nigeria · 3 works

Ibrahim Buhari Gambo is an Abuja-based artist who works and signs as Mojozorro, sometimes shortened to MZ. He draws in black and white on...

View Artist

Questions

Good to know

What is the Hausa knot?

Known as dagi, it is an interlaced knot used in embroidery, wall decoration and leatherwork. It also featured on the emblem of Northern Nigeria.

What are the Kano dye pits?

The Kofar Mata dye pits in Kano have been worked since the late 15th century. Cloth is dyed with indigo in deep pits, then beaten to a sheen.

What is a babban riga?

It is a wide, flowing gown worn by men across northern Nigeria and the Sahel. Its embroidery, often on the pocket and chest, signals status and taste.

Cultural Passport

Every work comes with its story, documented.

The tradition, the artist and the story behind the work, on a digital Passport you can print and frame beside it.

How it works

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