Baby Carrier

Sadatu Abu, Yoruba / Nigerian, active 20th century

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collected 1977

Handwoven cotton

Overall: 78 3/4 × 19 1/8 in. (200 × 48.5 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Adrian Walser, Class of 1932

178.30.25822

Geography

Place Made: Ibadan, Nigeria, Western Africa, Africa

Period

20th century

Object Name

Transportation: Human, Baby Carrier

Research Area

Africa

Not on view

Label

The looped weft pattern of this handwoven cotton textile is a fashionable choice for Nigerian women practicing traditional babywearing, although the stark white color is unique. Most cloth baby carriers are colorful, but the imported lustrous rayon accent threads give a decorative flare to this garment. Both aesthetically pleasing and functional, baby carriers allow caregivers to continue their everyday activities while maintaining an intimate connection to children.

From the 2023 exhibition Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art, curated by Alexandra Thomas, Curatorial Research Associate

Course History

First Year Student Enrichment Program – Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Colleen Lannon, Summer 2023

First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Mokhtar Bouba, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

Writing 2.05, Why Write, Anyway?, Erkki Mackey, Fall 2023

Writing 5.24, Photographic Representations, Amanda Wetsel, Fall 2023

Writing 5.25, Photographic Representations, Amanda Wetsel, Fall 2023

Anthropology 31.01, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 36.01, Gender in Cross Cultural Perspectives, Sabrina Billings, Fall 2023

Anthropology 55.01, Anthropology of Global Health, Anne Sosin, Fall 2023

Art History 89.06, Senior Seminar: Theory and Method, Adedoyin Teriba, Fall 2023

Creative Writing 10.02, Writing and Reading Fiction, Katherine Crouch, Fall 2023

Geography 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Fall 2023

Humanities 2.01, The Modern Labyrinth, Dennis Washburn, Paul Carranza, Ainsley Morse, Laura Edmondson, Winter 2024

Writing 5.06, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024

Writing 5.07, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Winter 2024

College Course 21.01, What's In Your Shoebox?, Francine A'Ness and Mokhtar Bouba, Spring 2024

College Course 21.01, What's In Your Shoebox?, Francine A'Ness and Mokhtar Bouba, Spring 2024

Exhibition Tour: Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art, Summer 2023

Exhibition History

African Textiles, History 12, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 30-April 23, 1993.

Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art, Harteveldt Family Gallery, Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, and Northeast Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 22, 2023–May 25, 2024.

Provenance

Collected by Adrian Andrew Walser (1910-1994) in Ibadan, Nigeria, 1977; given to present collection, 1978.

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