From Trinkets to Tradition

rickshaw

Zulu beadwork is a well documented aspect of the material culture of black South Africans, particularly since the early 19th Century under King Shaka Sezangakhona’s rule in the region now known as KwaZulu-Natal. Much of this scholarship has been concerned with the denotative aspects of regional styles, or with the connotative value it holds for its wearers. However, this article’s contribution is in relation to the makers of beadwork. It examines how these women, faced with economic challenges during the Apartheid period, brought about a beadwork commodity known as isimodeni, while making and selling their beadwork craft along the “Marine Parade” beachfront known now as the Golden Mile, in Durban. It argues that this style was born out of a response to the fetishes and aesthetic tastes of white holidaymakers, and was visually influenced by the appearance of their trading “neighbours” the Durban Rickshaw Pullers. It offers, that what emerged was an apolitical beadwork style, which was adopted as a national symbol of post apartheid South African ethnicity.

 

Dr Rowan Gatfield   
PhD Visual Anthropology
Senior Lecturer
Graphic Design BA (Hons) Degree Course

Email: rgatfield@lincoln.ac.uk

 

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