08 · Explore
Hausa arts: earth architecture, cloth, music, poetry, film and the Durbar
The Hausa arts are made to be used: a house that keeps out the heat, a gown that shows rank, a song that names a patron, a parade that tells a city who it is.
Mud walls with relief patterns, gowns stitched by hand, a drum that can speak and thousands of riders in front of an emir: this chapter is a tour of how Hausa people make and perform their culture.
In this chapter
01Earth, palm wood and pattern: Hausa architecture
Mud brick, palm beams and why an old Hausa house is always being renewed.
3 min read →
02Cloth, leather and metal: the craft traditions
Indigo gowns, embroidered caps, leather and the craft families that make them.
2 min read →
03Drums, trumpets and the voice of the praise-singer
A trumpet for the emir, a drum that speaks and a singer who names his patron.
2 min read →
04Poets, storytellers and novelists
Evening tales, verse in Ajami and the market novels of Kano.
2 min read →
05Kannywood: Hausa cinema
From Turmin Danya to Kannywood, and the argument over who sets the rules.
2 min read →
06The Durbar: when the city rides out
The Eid ride in Kano: thousands of horsemen, now on a UNESCO list.
2 min read →