Abdul Kadizallo Is Turning Memories of Zaria Into Vibrant Contemporary Art

Born and raised in Zaria, Abdul says he has been drawing for as long as he can remember, but it was only after moving permanently to Abuja that he began to understand the direction he wanted his work to take. Away from Zaria, he began to miss the ordinary details of the place he had once wanted to leave behind, the women he grew up around, family gatherings, rented Hausa novels, vibrant colours, everyday gestures and the quiet routines that once seemed too ordinary to notice.

His work now draws heavily from those memories. Abdul wants to document ordinary Northern Nigerian life and preserve details that he believes are gradually disappearing.

At the centre of that process are the women who shaped his childhood, particularly his late stepmother, whom he describes as one of the major influences on how he sees Zaria and community.

Can You Tell me how You Got Into Art?

My name is Abdul Kadizallo. I was born and raised in Zaria. My whole life was in Zaria before I moved to Abuja. I have been wanting to have a direction for my art for so many years, but I couldn’t find it because I was just drawing random things. I would see something and draw it.

But when I moved permanently back to Abuja, I realised that I missed Zaria a lot more than I expected. I felt like I had taken my time in Zaria for granted. When I was in Zaria, I always wanted to leave. I thought maybe I would go somewhere better. But when I came to Abuja, I realised that Zaria was always the better place I was looking for. So I’m trying to create the things I love about my hometown through my art.

When I started making this kind of art, I couldn’t really find an artist who was doing exactly what I wanted, which is the everyday life of Sahel people. So I knew I had to create it by myself I’ve also been following photographers on Instagram, and they help me a lot because I get most of my inspiration from them and from what they capture.

Most of Your Work Features Women of the Sahel. What Exactly is that You Found Inspiring About them?

I grew up around a lot of beautiful women because my father had three wives and I have seven sisters. Seeing their stories unfold and observing their daily rituals really influenced me, especially one of my stepmothers who basically brought me up because my mother and father separated when I was a year old. My stepmother was a typical Zaria woman. She shaped a lot of the way I see things. My stepmothers normally argued, but after some time, you would see them sitting together, eating together or doing something together. One thing I found interesting about them is that they could reconcile very quickly, and you couldn’t come between them.

There were also things that were part of our everyday life. For example, when we came back from Islamic school, we would normally walk home. Before we even reached our compound, you would start smelling incense Sometimes when I’m drawing, I have flashbacks. I remember, “okay, this is how they used to do this”, and then I sketch it and try to turn it into digital art. I took all of these things for granted. I didn’t understand the peaceful part of those things at the time.

What is the Importance of Creating Art about People’s Ordinary Lives, rather than Focusing on Major Events or things that are Considered “Mincense.ore Significant”?

The major reason I started focusing on ordinary life is because I think people need to remember where they’re coming from. We take these small details for granted. For example, when I was in Zaria, every Friday, I used to go and rent Hausa novels for my stepmother. She would read them throughout the week, and I would return them the following Friday.

I don’t think people publish or rent those kinds of books the way they used to anymore. Sometimes at night, she would tell us stories about the books she had read. These small routines shaped me a lot.

Why do You think it is Important for Northern Nigerians to Document their Lives and Culture?

To me, documenting it is about wanting someone, one day, to look at it and create something else from it. I also want someone to see themselves in it. I’ve received compliments about that. At some point, I felt like I was even narrating myself through the work. There are very few examples of this kind of work, especially coming from someone from Northern Nigeria.

It was hard for me to find inspiration because I couldn’t find the exact thing I was looking for. There are particular gestures and sitting positions that you have to know in order to interpret them. You can’t just go on social media and find everything.

Do you think there is also a changing perception of Northern culture, particularly among younger people? I think there is something happening in the North where people see the cultural part of the Sahel as not modern. They see it as vintage or old-fashioned. Even when I was in school, I couldn’t listen to Hausa music in peace because people would ask, “Why are you listening to Hausa music?” Also, there was a time on Twitter when I saw people bashing and laughing at a man because he wore a pink shadda, which there was nothing wrong with in my opinion.

If you look at the clothes men used to wear in the past, they were always vibrant and had rich colours. I think our ancestors actually wore those vibrant colours and liked them. I don’t understand why men of the Sahel don’t like vibrant colors. To me, there is nothing wrong with wanting vibrant colours. Those colours have life. I’m inspired by the colors of the Emir’s Palace in Zaria. When you look at the colours, they pop. You can see them from afar.

That’s one of the things I love most about my art. I’m not scared of using colors.

Your Work Often Features Multiple Women together. How do You Connect that to Your Ideas about Community and Family?

Before my grandfather died, my entire extended family normally took pictures as a family. We would even wear matching outfits, from the fabrics down to accessories. We lost that culture after he passed away. Nowadays, everyone is trying to protect their space and live their own life. Back in the days, nobody cared about your status or how much money you had.

If you were family, you were simply family, but now people are scared of differences. And that’s the issue, when everyone is trying to live on their own, you can’t even know when your friends or siblings are going through something. That’s one of the major things I want to put into my artwork, that is, community, living around people and learning to cope with people’s differences. If you’re trying to live around people and understand their differences, you become more considerate in life. You begin to understand that life is far beyond your own imagination.

Looking at your Work, there is a Lot of Attention to Detail. How do You Approach Creating Something and Making Sure Your Observations Translate into Your Work?

I think the major reason I pay attention to details is because for my whole life, I have been the kind of person who notices things. To me, there is beauty in everything. There is nothing in this world that doesn’t have beauty in it. Those little details that we normally ignore are the things that come together to build big, amazing things. It’s just like when I’m making art. Maybe I’'ll start by making a plate. I focus on the details of the plate, and that’s how the artwork develops until it’s complete. Then everything comes together and co-exists in a beautiful way.

Looking Ahead, What Are You Hoping to Build Next? What are You Working Towards?

My page @kadizallo is the beginning of a visual world in preparation for a fashion brand that I hope will represent the everyday lives of people from the Sahel in my own way. For now, I’m interested in establishing the world around the brand and allowing people to become familiar with it on its own terms. I want Kadizallo to feel like a fashion brand with its own identity and language