Set in East Nigeria, Udura is a short film from director and stylist Daniel Obasi exploring the country’s indigenous Igbo culture. A delicate meditation on spirituality, loss and reincarnation – created for Vlisco&co’s latest Nigerian Igbo edition – this experimental fantasy follows two girls who travel back to their hometown after the death of a loved one.

The camera pans from the rust coloured earth to verdant fields, taking in the river and fireside as it reflects on ritual, reincarnation and the four elements. With the aim of drawing attention to aspects of the culture that are gradually dying out, Obasi explains that the world he’s created isn’t constrained by temporal concerns. “It isn’t time bound but rather draws inspiration from the past and present in an attempt to broaden the perspective of what is possible with Igbo culture,” he says. “The film is an ode to the diverse layers of being Igbo though symbolism, music and the mild conflict and inter dependence between Christianity and traditional religion within these communities.”

Similar themes are reflected in two new Vlisco collections by designers Fruche and Gozel Green too, which also form the wardrobe for the film. Both use the brand’s latest Dutch Wax fabrics to craft brilliantly pattern-clashing sculptural ensembles with superlative shoulders and origami folds.

Meanwhile photographer Yagazie Emezi shoots Gozel Green’s collection, which draws on the Igbo women’s art form Uli, a style of body adornment now sadly little seen. “An old backyard veranda was chosen as a casual but truthful setting for an art form that takes place at home,” says Emezi of her story. “These women are without make-up as the Uli is their beauty. The only thing that truly stands out is the outfits and the Uli art – noble women casually at ease in their spaces.”

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Published on 23/10/2018