Eye Lu

Adire Yoruba textile called "Eye Lu" or "Ayelu" or "Aielu" meaning Everything Open/All Patterns/Tree of Knowledge/Birds. Made on a manufactured cotton cloth which is hand-painted with multiple patterned squares using cassava starch. After drying, it is dyed with indigo in above-ground dye pots. The more times the cloth is dipped in indigo, the darker the background and the more vivid the pattern. The pattern is revealed after the cassava starch is beaten off the dried-out cloth. This textile is distinguished by smaller squares compared to others with larger squares. Patterns on this textile include moon, star, flower, chieftancy leaves, odu ifa (sun in eclipse), kobo (penny).