Woven Legacies: Innovation & Tradition
Timed Online Auction, 2 - 24 February 2025
Innovation & Tradition
About the Session‘Woven Legacies: Innovation & Tradition’ highlights a diverse range of materials, techniques, and processes from various regions, including Southern, Central and Western Africa. These works coalesce utility, aesthetics and cultural identity. From the tactile threads of textiles to the intricate blending of natural fibres in baskets and the sculptural forms of steel, copper, brass and beads, the concept of weaving is reimagined as a metaphor for connection, storytelling and the passing on of tradition.
About this Item
Notes
Tintsaba is a project designed to facilitate the financial independence and artistic growth of women from the Hhohho district in rural eSwatini. Founded in 1985 by Sheila Freemantle, Tintsaba began with 12 local women and has grown into a globally recognised name for refined basketry with numerous awards. Lucy Makhabane was born in 1961 in the Mhlangatane area and started with Tintsaba in 2018.
Sisal is the common name for Agave Sisalana. It can be found in most areas of eSwatini and is regarded as an exotic and invasive weed. Sisal has always been used to make rope, twine, handcraft and stockades.
Instead of weaving their usual geometric and symmetrical patterns, these skilled artisans from Tintsaba have experimented with something new. They have taken the enamelware bowl which holds such resonance within the African home and landscape as a starting point. The random rust and wear of these discarded bowls, which are often found on the periphery of clean swept yards of rural homesteads, has been meticulously copied into the sisal medium, sparking a dynamic conversation around traditional artistry, history and material culture.
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