Façade decoration of a house in Kano, Northern Nigeria. The design in moulded mud plaster includes a sword, a rifle and a dagi or ‘endless knot’. 1984. Photographer: Paul Oliver (1927–2017) From the book Dwellings: The House Across the World, 1987.
“Whoever lays eyes on it has to pick up the dagger and toy with it, as if he had always been looking out for it. The hand is quick to grab the waiting hilt, and the powerful obeying blade slides in and out of the sheath with a click. This is not what the dagger wants…”
