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Research in African Literatures 31.4 (2000) 155-165



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Interviews

The Thread of the Story: Two South African Women Artists Talk about Their Work:

Pauline Burmann

[Figures]

On a sunny afternoon, in the Stadshof Museum in Zwolle, the Netherlands, the South African Allina Ndebele, born in 1939, tells about her work, with her soft voice and singing South African accent. She has just received the Thami Mnyele Award given by the Dutch Thami Mnyele Foundation for her work and her contribution to South African cultural life:

I like using borders around my work. When the story ends, it shows the end. Only then I think of the borders. Mostly I use brown or black lines. In my mind's eye, the image comes to me surrounded by a border. The whole story is in the picture and when there is no frame it feels as if I am going to join another story. I am lost. The border makes the picture when I see it inside me; it also brings the image a little bit closer to myself.

In a remote settlement near Swart Mfolozi in the beautiful hills of KwaZulu-Natal, Ndebele built her weaving mill. She employs two women from the area who work on the looms, making runners with geometrical designs. Ndebele concentrates on huge pictorial tapestries. She recreates the myths of the Zulu into large, intensely colored textiles. She is inspired by local customs and oral legends, myths, and folktales told by her mother and grandmother when she was a child. In traditional Zulu society the main storyteller was the grandmother, who had the task of educating her grandchildren. The folktale was normally performed in the evening, after a day's work was finished and the children were prepared for bed. It is believed that a tale told during the daytime caused horns to grow on one's head.

In the rural area of KwaZulu-Natal she weaves her own version of the traditional story directly from the picture in her mind. Although Ndebele lives and works far from the big cities of South Africa, she has gained popularity in the whole of South Africa and beyond. Museums collect and exhibit her work. She has won prizes and the international media have visited her weaving mill. There, she transcribes every detail of her flaming vision in deeply dyed wools. We see the round huts and the painted shields, the firebirds, and the furious king flowing together in a magic visual tale. Ndebele uses no other supporting drawing, but only the image in her "mind's eye." You will find no sketches around her mill: "When I work I see the picture and my hand will go over the wool and I know where I will have the image. Sometimes I change it again and take out all the wool, start over till I am happy with it. It is a slow process, for painters it must be easier." [End Page 155]

There is not always a logical story line in the tapestries. Scenes usually get mixed up or flow into an overall vision that triggers the spirit of fantasy. The entire tapestry is filled with images; every part is used to tell something. The process of tapestry making is a very long and contemplative one. It requires complete concentration and takes nearly a year to complete one. The tapestries are the size of the weaving machine, one and half meters wide: "One day when I will have a wider weaving machine, I will weave a long tapestry that will never be finished."

The first years in Swart Mfolozi, conditions were harsh. There was no electricity until last year. Water for dyeing was not available on tape; it was necessary to walk two kilometers to the river every time. Although Ndebele started dyeing and spinning her own wool, the wide African rivers dried to a trickle during some droughts. Water shortages brought an end to the lengthy dyeing processes. Then there was the pollution by the chemicals they had to use...

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