Mdukatshani - Fifty Years of Beading

OUR CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Tessa Katzenellembogen first came to Mdukatshani some time in 1980. It was a short visit to practice her already fluent Zulu – a fluency she would put at the service of the project in countless ways in the years ahead. She was curious about everything, and willing to help, taking on any task that needed doing, whether it was legal work, preparing reports, or trying to market 10 000 grass bangles which the women had woven the year before. The bangles were known as ubhedazane , pale gold circlets of finely woven grass that were traditionally made by the herd boys. They wore them fitted tight on their skinny arms, evidence of hours spent in the sun, twisting grass stalks into things of beauty. Could the women try weaving some big enough for adults? Just a few? It was a casual request when orders were scarce, and we were going to be overwhelmed. How could we sell 10 000 grass bangles? We were sitting with a pile-up we could not afford when Tessa arrived to take them on. She loved the pale gold delicacy of the grass and sat with the women to learn the weaves. How many patterns were there? Ubhedazane, indundu, insontana . was that all? She coaxed memories of forgotten weaves out of the crafters. Jikajika, umthamo wempisi, umhlavuhlavu. Gradually she built up a repertoire of 30 different patterns, rejecting sloppy work with lazy knots. Then she took the bangles to town and sold them for us, on the back of every cheque scribbling a note about the customer. Nobel laureate. Artist. Designer. Politician. Scientist. Musician. The cheques should never have been cashed at the bank. They were a collection to frame on a wall.

Tessa with her husband, classical pianist Daniel Adni, who lured her away from Africa. They met when he was on a concert tour of South Africa, and now live in London with their son Isaac.

Ntombi Dladla

NgakelephiMa Mthethwa

Qhelile Hadebe

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Mdukatshani – Fifty Years of Beading