ABSTRACT
Traditional weavers are faced with more than the usual problems of artists in terms of public exposure and recognition. Very few people who buy hand-woven products have the background to understand the time and effort that was behind the production of their materials. The aim of this study is to revive the traditional men?s horizontal loom by constructing a modified loom that will serve as a model for mass production to sustain Nigerian traditional weaving industry and form the basis for experimental research in small scale textile machinery production. The methods used in this study were: field practical and participant observation methods for the construction of the modified loom with the help of carpenters and metal workers who produced the loom parts according to the drawings of the researcher. The main objectives of this study were successful, because the mechanised modified loom constructed can weave. Out of the thirteen samples woven by the researcher, three of the samples march the targeted traditional woven fabrics they are the Sawaye, Zugu and Turkudi woven fabrics. After interviewing all the five groups in this study area all of them did not agree with the first basic assumption which states that the Modified loom products are of a better quality than the Indigenous loom products. Even those who fairly agreed that the modified loom products were stronger than the traditional loom products also agreed that in terms of prestige they too will prefer the traditional loom products. The time spent in the production of the narrow strip turkudi veil and the fact that it is considered a treasured item, the cost of this fabric is not within the reach of the well to do Nigerians not to talk of the poor. When the manufacture of the traditional fabrics is perfected on the modified loom it could compete with the traditional cloth, substitute and even bring down the prices of the traditional fabric if the Chinese methods are followed. The Hausa Turkudi industry, still in active operation in Kura town and its environs in Nigeria today, is over a thousand years old and represents one of the longest runs of textiles fashion in human history. The traditional horizontal loom fabrics though having value and prestige are going out of extinction because the marketers are already relying on the second hand clothes, referring to them as the best product in the market now. The modified loom would produce a weave equivalent to the works of up to 42 traditional weavers at the same time. The modified traditional men?s horizontal loom should not only be motorised, but should be computerized and be a foundation for textile machinery production, if the Indian experience is to be followed for proper industrial development. Our textile technologists should design a programme for textile machine design education facilities which will be strengthened by supporting a postgraduate programme covering textile electronics and loom computer control systems. Government, the textile manufacturers and the association of textile technologists should come together under one roof and invest in research and development (R&D) for the production of indigenous machines that will form the basis of textile machinery manufacture.