Google’s home page featured a doodle honoring Nigerian potter Ladi Dosei Kwali on Wednesday.
Kwali was an educator, ceramicist, glassworker, and potter who helped convey the beauty of Nigerian art to the international population through beautifully adorned earthenware patterns.
She learned to make pottery as a child and eventually established her own style, which included making common vessels embellished with animal iconography.
Kwali’s works were displayed as magnificent decorations in wealthy people’s homes and even palaces.
After seeing her work at a royal house, Michael Cardew, the creator of Abuja’s first potter training center, identified her talent in 1950.
Kwali was the first Nigerian woman to study sophisticated pottery techniques, merging her traditional style with cutting-edge techniques to create a hybrid collection of pottery.
She achieved international acclaim in the 60s following exhibitions across Europe and the Americas.
Kwali later became a university lecturer and received a doctorate from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1977.
In 1963 she was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire. In honour of her contributions to academia, she received the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award in 1980 and was also awarded the national honour of the Officer of the Order of the Niger in 1981.
Kwali remains the first and only woman to feature on a Nigerian Naira note, N20.
Google’s doodle commemorates the exhibition of Kwali’s work at the Skoto Gallery in New York, on March 16, 2017.