Speaking With Beads: Zulu Arts from Southern Africa - Softcover

Morris, Jean; Preston-Whyte, Eleanor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0500277575 ISBN 13: 9780500277577

Publisher: Thames & Hudson, 1999

Synopsis

The beadwork designs of the Zulu-speaking peoples of Southern Africa have evolved from a tradition of craft skills developed over the generations. But the products of this tradition are now fashionable worldwide. This volume presents jewellery, ornamental headdresses, capes, aprons, beaded panels and other decorative forms. The items frequently convey coded messages in a symbolic language, speaking of love, the origins of their makers or simply the influence of local styles. They also "speak" of ethnic identity and of religion, especially in the beadwork named after the Black Messiah, Isaiah Shembe, which uses white beads as a ground for ornate and exquisitely coloured geometrical patterns. And they speak a modern idiom of revitalized skills, whether as the contemporary art form of bead sculpture or as costume jewellery for global markets. The photographs, taken over a period of 20 years, offer a documentation of evolving traditions.

About this title

From Booklist:

Anthropologist Preston-Whyte and photographer Jean Morris combine talents to create one of the first mass-audience books on the beauty and meaning of South African beadwork. Morris, having traveled twice to the eastern seaboard of southern Africa, shows via color photographs how much of the art has changed; whereas Preston-Whyte writes in lay language of the mystical powers, religious ceremonies, and fashion significance of these unique body decorations. Documented here are both new and old styles of bead adornment as well as the accompanying traditions and rites in which they play a part. A nontechnical, elegant glimpse into South African ways and means. Barbara Jacobs

About this edition

• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0500277575
• ISBN 13: 9780500277577
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 96