umswenko ✿ afrika
(Khanya Mthethewa explains the meaning of umswenko in English and isiZulu.)
“Umswenko is how we present ourselves to the world. It is the confidence we exude because of how we have chosen a set of clothing items to best represent who we are. When we look good, we feel good.”
“Mengiswenkile ngiyaziqhenya, ngiyazazi, futhi angisabi ukukhombisa abantu ukuthi kahle kahle, mina ngiwubani.”
Our journey to explore the different values of what we make now comes to Africa. We share stories that reflect the creative energies in Africa today, showing a particular value of adornment as a contribution to the theatre of public life.
umswenko
- Isifociya: The revival of Zulu adornment that protects and beautifies by Khanya Mthethwa
- Urgent adornment in South Africa by Beverley Price
- Izandla Zethu: Fine jewellery with what’s at hand
- Ordentelikheid: South African baroque jewellery by Taryn Sadé Joseph
- Pride in Zulu adornment by Mbuso Oscar Zondi
- Iziqhaza: Designs that open your ears by Hlengiwe Dube
ubuntu
- Quarterly essay: Moffat Takadiwa: The art of small things by Jenan Taylor
- Litema, the pride of a Mosotho woman’s home by ‘Matsooana Sekokotoana
- I wear letters from the past by Lara Landsberg
- The Eastern Cape made visible through jewellery by Joani Groenewald
- [Re:]Entanglements in Nigeria
- My father was an elephant: Clay dreams in Nigeria by Ngozi Omeje
talking objects
- Fulu Muziki ✿ Kinshasa noisicians + eco-culturists by Gary Warner
- “Only room for one in the house”: My Ankyianpoma language sticks from Ghana by Claire Dale
- Simb, or the rise and fall of the Fake Lion in Senegal by Joseph Ndione
- 25,000 knots: The hands that make Baba Tree baskets
- Ndomo: Beauty from mud in Mali by Rebecca Hoyes
- Egypt reclaims niello: A craft for kings and sultans by Passant Nossair
- Wissa-Sophy: Back to the woven garden by Passant Nossair
out of afrika
- Kultur-All Makaan: A cool place for African warmth by Jude Anderson
- Muhubo Suleiman ✿ A home within a home by Kevin Murray
- Nyibol Deng ✿ A recycled life
- Life in a boma by Stephanie Brookes
- Stepping out: Africa Fashion Week Middle East by Ansie van der Walt