This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
It’s the closing week to see the extraordinary art of “Ubuhle Women: Beadwork and the Art of Independence”, which showcases a new form of bead art, the ndwango, developed by a community of women living and working together in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
The six artists featured in the exhibition call their paintings in beads ndwangos, which translates as “cloth” or “rag.” The black fabric on which the Ubuhle women work is reminiscent of the Xhosa headscarves and skirts which many of them grew up wearing. By stretching this textile like a canvas, the artists transform the flat cloth into a contemporary art form colored with Czech glass beads.
Gayle Anderson reports for the KTLA 5 News at 6 a.m. on August 22, 2023.
