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Gasali Adeyemo

Gasali Adeyemo is a Nigerian-born artist who now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Each summer, we are delighted to host him at Snow Farm for a workshop on traditional Yoruban dyeing techniques. During Gasali's week on campus, the back porch of the farmhouse is converted into a small shop filled with indigo garments, scarves, bags, and yards of fabric. It is a popular place, with students looking, and returning, and looking some more, trying to decide which is their favorite and how many to take home. Now, for the first time, we are making Gasali's exquisite art available to all our Snow Farm friends with this online featured gallery through November 30, 2020.

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Gasali says, "Indigo is the color of love." The Yoruba name for indigo is elu; it is used for medicine, painted on houses to prevent sickness, and also for dyeing. Yoruban techniques include batik, adire eleko and tie-dye; there are many traditional patterns that have their own history and stories. All of this, Gasali generously shares with students throughout the world.


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Get to Know Gasali

Gasali is from a small rural village, Ofatedo, located in Osun State Nigeria. He is the third of five children; his father is a farmer, his mother a trader. Gasali realized his artistic potential and entrepenurial spirit early in life. He drew sketches of people at weddings and other social events in order to earn money. This, along with hard work on village farms, allowed him to fund his education through high school.  

With a desire to improve his creative abilities, Gasali went to the Nike Center for Arts and Culture in Osogbo, Nigeria from 1990 - 1996. During the first two years, he mastered the arts of batik painting on fabric, idigo dyeing, quilt making, embroidery, appliqué, and more. For the following four years, he spent long days teaching these skills to incoming students at the Nike Center, as the Center grew in popularity and drew people from around the world.

In 1995, Gasali and five other Nigerian artists were part of an exhibit in Bayreuth, Germany. This was a big break after which his career as an artist took hold.

In 1996, he traveled to the University of Iowa at the invitation of one of his students from the Nike Center, where his work continued to draw attention and acclaim. Doors kept opening and soon he was traveling the world, exhibiting and teaching the traditional work of his Yoruba culture. Snow Farm is lucky and honored to have been part of Gasali's success story and also to continue partnering with him in new ways.

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