Developing an Original Theory of Colour in Nigerian Traditional Art Systems

Colour carries profound symbolic, spiritual, social, and aesthetic significance in Nigerian traditional art systems, yet no systematic theoretical framework has been constructed to explain how colour meaning is organised, transmitted, and applied across the diversity of Nigerian ethnic art traditions, representing a major gap in both colour theory and African art scholarship. This study developed an original theory of colour in Nigerian traditional art systems, drawing on evidence from Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa-Fulani, Tiv, Efik, and Nupe colour traditions. A multi-site ethnographic and theoretical methodology was employed, combining fieldwork at traditional art production communities across six geopolitical zones, structured interviews with 48 master practitioners across six traditions, systematic documentation and analysis of colour usage in 240 traditional art artefacts, and theoretical synthesis informed by both indigenous knowledge frameworks and colour theory scholarship. Analysis of colour usage across traditions identified both universal principles and tradition-specific conventions. The original Nigerian Traditional Colour Theory Framework proposes six theoretical categories: cosmological colour assignment (the anchoring of colours to specific deities, spiritual forces, or cosmic domains), social position signalling colour (colours encoding gender, age-grade, and hierarchical status information), protective colour magic (colours used for their believed spiritual protective properties), commemorative colour (colours reserved for mourning, celebration, or historical commemoration), ecological colour metaphor (colours drawing meaning from natural environment association), and community aesthetic consensus colour (colours whose meaning is collectively negotiated rather than structurally determined).