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Beadwork in South Africa holds implications of colonialism, gender roles, and the connection to the past and spiritual realm. The podcast explores a set of garments made for a Xhosa royal woman, describing the necklace, headdress, breast piece, and anklets. Beadwork is a skillful craft predominantly done by women and holds significance for the individual wearing it. The practice of beadwork has been influenced by colonialism, and the garments represent a connection to ancestral traditions. Nelson Mandela wore a Xhosa collar as a statement against colonial influence. The concept of tradition in African art is complex and evolving due to colonialism and apartheid. In South Africa, beadwork is an art form that lends many implications to the notion of colonialism, gender roles, and the ways in which art can act as a vessel to the past and the spiritual realm. In this podcast, I will be examining a set of garments intended for a royal woman of the Xhosa tribe to wear. The set utilizes beadwork expertly. I will be describing the garments themselves and then addressing the various nuances of the history of beadwork in Africa and the concept of tradition that is often at play when Westerners discuss African art. Today, I will be describing a beaded ornamental set of garments intended for a Xhosa royal woman. Xhosa is an umbrella term for a plethora of varying tribes of Nguni stock. The set is meant to adorn Xhosa royalty, specifically a woman, and it is not specified what tribe it is from specifically. The set consists of a necklace, ceremonial headdress, breast piece, as well as a pair of beaded anklets. The set is inherently cohesive due to the shared beading colors as well as patterns that work in tandem to create an aesthetically pleasing collection. The first item I will address within the collection is the necklace. The necklace is made of some sort of yarn or string and its length is covered in small cylindrical glass-like beads. The beads are opaque, black, metallic, and reflect the light with every movement. The gleaming of the beads strike up the imagination and one can almost picture it in motion. The left side of the necklace has two identical beaded lengths running towards the pendant at the bottom, while the right side only has one beaded length. At the bottom end of the singularly beaded side rests one circular pearl-like bead. At the top of the necklace is a brown yarn clasp knotted around one of the ends of the beaded strings. The aforementioned pendant is made of black and white beads in a squished, upside-down U-shape. The beads look to be a different material than the stringed beads, as they are more circular in shape and do not capture the same scintillation as them. The top center of the pendant is marked with three vertical lines made of black beads. The three black lines are slightly off-center towards the right of the pendant, and on both sides of it is one vertical black beaded line. The next items I will address are the pair of beaded anklets. The anklets are nearly symmetrical, with a variation in the center pattern, and are rectangular in shape. They consist of black and white circular beads similar, if not the same, to the beads used in the pendant of the necklace. On both short lengths of each anklet are a tangle of 50 or so brown twisted strings, presumably used to fasten the anklets around the ankles. Now, for the purpose of distinguishing between the two anklets, I will use the variable A to describe the short lengths of each rectangle, and the variable B to describe the long side. On both anklets, there is about a half-inch thick border of white beads that is interrupted by a black beaded line running parallel on both side A's. Then, as we move toward the center of the rectangle, there are two large triangle shapes with the point of the triangles facing the outside border. The triangle shapes are symmetrical within each anklet, so each anklet consists of four large outside-facing triangles made of black beads. Moving towards the center, once again, there are two symmetrical vertical black beaded lines running down the entirety of side A. In the center of the left anklet, there is a horizontal hourglass shape made of black beads. In the center of the right anklet is a plus sign shape with the center taken out, aka made of white beads. Both anklets utilize negative space masterfully. This collection is incredibly cohesive and showcases the intricacies and beauty that can be produced by skillful beading skills. The intricacy of the beading and the clear attention to detail indicates that the garments hold power and purpose. The set is intended for a royal woman, which is fitting because the collection truly exudes regality. Beadwork is and has been an art form with women at the helm for as long as it has been a pillar of artistic culture and expression. Women have mastered the craft of beadwork, and the vast majority of beadwork, like that of the Xhosa tribe, is made by a woman or a collective of women. The essence of beadwork is the significance it holds to the individual either wearing the garment, producing it, or both. Garments that utilize beadwork are often intended for movement and ceremony. The Metropolitan Museum of Art describes certain forces of performative beadwork as, quote, only truly complete when seen in their kinetic relationship to the human body, in some sense like performance art or body art, unquote. The ceremonies in which beadwork play a key role are a way of furthering connection to the ancestral and spiritual realm. Paying tribute to and emulating one's ancestors is an important value for the Xhosa people. This connection to the ancestral realm begins with the first breath of air one takes. The umbilical cord of a newborn Xhosa child are buried upon their birth, immediately cementing their connection to the ancestral realm. In learning about Xhosa beadwork, the words tradition and traditional came up plenty times during my research. When tracing the roots of the custom of African and Xhosa beadwork, the effects of colonialism on the practice loom large. A review by co-chief art critic of the New York Times, Roberta Smith, on a 2002 beadwork exhibition provides context. Quote, when the importing of European glass beads began in the 18th century, their beadwork traditions exploded. They continued from the 1950s and 60s until traditionalism became associated with the oppression of the apartheid regime, unquote. Glass beads were imported from Europe, which made beadwork more accessible and able to be widely produced. Thus, colonialism will forever be woven into the history of beadwork in Africa. Nelson Mandela, the much lauded South African civil rights activist, brought the spotlight upon Xhosa beadwork, specifically a collar called an ngosa, as an act of resilience in 1962. At a court appearance for treason against the government due to his vocal stand against apartheid, Mandela wore a male Xhosa collar. This was in lieu of this classic suit and tie one traditionally wears to court, and was a profound statement on Mandela's part. Wearing the collar is a sort of visual representation of Africa before colonialism. In Mandela's wearing it is no doubt an intentional commentary against the ways in which colonialism has changed Africa, i.e. changing what is considered appropriate dress. The expression of contempt and sign of resistance comes with two truths, however. Wearing beadwork to court in a trial against the South African government is a display of resilience and rebellion, while representing a custom that flourished out of violent systems of oppression. In Polly Richards' writing entitled, Mosque Dogon in a Changing World, Richards addresses the way colonialist forces have complicated the notion of tradition in African art. Richards writes about Dogon masquerades and how they began as a way of representing the transport of ancestral souls. Eventually, like Xhosa beadwork, colonialism had a strong effect on the way the custom was carried out, and the masquerade ceremonies began to cater to European visitors. Richards describes the notion of tradition as fluid and constantly evolving under circumstances such as colonialism and apartheid. This is the lens one must look at Xhosa beadwork through as well. I hope this audio guide was educational and left you with questions and complex themes to ponder. Thank you!
