Notes

Mgongo Ngubane is a weaver of the Threads of Africa Project, a collaboration with the Mdukatshani Development Trust, based in the Thukela Valley of KwaZulu Natal. The project aims to promote the centuries-old African practice of metal work in a contemporary context - giving light to the painstaking art of basket weaving with metals. As put by David John Moon 'an experienced weaver may progress less than one centimetre a day, depending on the intricacy of the design and the size of the bowl. The correct tension is vital to ensure balance and proportion, and is complicated by the fact that each metal has a different density, even if the wire is the same thickness.' ¹

Each Threads of Africa bowl has its own unique pattern. Weavers hand-coil fine wire around a clay pot, which is used as a mould and broken out carefully once the form is complete. The patterns are developed from traditional weaving techniques used in the region, inspired by the rich landscape of KwaZulu Natal.²

Literature

¹ David John Moon, (2011) The Earth is Watching Us: Threads of Africa, page 11.

² Threads of Africa