Google has celebrated Nigeria Potter, Ladi Kwali who was the first woman to be ever featured in the Nigerian currency with a doodle on its page.
Kwali, the viral woman on the N20 note was an educator, glassworker, potter, and ceramicist who brought the beauty of Nigerian Art to limelight through her well decorated earthenware designs.
She was born around 1925 to a family of Potters in Kwali Abuja where her aunt taught her the coin and pinch methods of pottery in her early stage which she later innovated into her own style.
However, the potter’s talent was later discovered by Michael Cardew, the founder of Abuja first potter training facility in 1950, as she delivers her beautiful artwork in Royal palaces and wealthy homes.
After joining the Abuja Pottery Centre, Kwali made history as the first Nigerian Woman to train in advanced pottery techniques and continue to achieve international acclaim with exhibitions across Europe and the Americas.
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Kwali later transformed her traditional way of Art with innovative methods to craft hybrid collections of p[pottery shaped with zoomorphic illustrations.
After a long run in her career as a potter, she disclosed the secrets of her craft works with the local community as a university lecturer.
She later received a doctorate degree from Ahmadu Bello University in 1977 and Nigerian National Order of Merit Award in 1980.
Google’s doodle honoured the exhibition of Kwali’s work at the Skoto Gallery in New York, on March 16, 2017.
Kwali maintains the only woman to be featured in the Nigerian currency in recognition and honour of her contributions to Art development in Nigeria and Africa.
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