Art, Design & Fashion
Peerless
Ladi Kwali
c. 1925 – 1984
The only woman on Nigerian currency, and a potter of international standing
Peerless is level 1 of 4 in the Nigeria Hall of Fame: changed the field itself. Tell the country's story without them and the story breaks. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
She learned to coil pots from her aunt as a child in Gwari country. One of her water jars took silver in Washington and is in the Smithsonian. Her face is on the twenty naira note — the only woman on Nigerian money.
Ladi Kwali was born around 1925 in the village of Kwali in the Gwari region of northern Nigeria, where pottery was work done by women, and learned to coil by hand from her aunt as a child.
Her meeting with the British studio potter Michael Cardew brought her work to international attention. A large water jar of hers won the silver prize at the Tenth International Exhibition of Ceramic Art in Washington in 1965 and is now held by the Smithsonian. Ahmadu Bello University gave her an honorary doctorate in 1970 and she was made an Officer of the Order of the Niger in 1981. After her death in 1984 the Abuja pottery centre was renamed for her, and she is the first and only woman to appear on a Nigerian banknote.
Her meeting with the British studio potter Michael Cardew brought her work to international attention. A large water jar of hers won the silver prize at the Tenth International Exhibition of Ceramic Art in Washington in 1965 and is now held by the Smithsonian. Ahmadu Bello University gave her an honorary doctorate in 1970 and she was made an Officer of the Order of the Niger in 1981. After her death in 1984 the Abuja pottery centre was renamed for her, and she is the first and only woman to appear on a Nigerian banknote.
- Wikipedia — Ladi Kwali
- AWARE Women Artists — Ladi Kwali
- Pulse Nigeria — Do you know about the woman on the 20 naira note?
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