Zulu Traditional Hats
On Fridays in downtown Durban, South Africa a secure, fenced area is designated for a bead market. Women come from surrounding areas to sell their beadwork and traditional crafts. Here a woman displays colourful izixolo hats. It is a fascinating experience to tour this market and interact with the local business women. Transactions pass between […]
Isixolo Traditions
The tradition of the Zulu hat or isixolo was an evolution from incredible conical hairstyles of the 19th century Zulu women. As European’s arrived it became more fashionable to be able to remove the headdress. Intricate hats were woven with human hair and dyed with ochre. Today the hats are made out of colourful fabrics […]
Money Changes Hands
Locals know that the bead market is the source of the best deals on Zulu beadwork. Other vendors in the beach front curio markets will often purchase their wares wholesale through bead market vendors and then place a markup for tourists. There are so many unique stories represented. Women support their families through their skills […]
An Early Morning
We were told that it was strategic for the bead market to be only on Fridays, because a lot of the women travel into the city from places like Ndwe Ndwe which is an hour or more of taxi transport. They leave early in the mornings to arrive at the market on time. The rest […]
Telephone Wire
Another popular and colourful craft is weaving with telephone wire: imbenge baskets. The baskets are woven from the outside edge into the center. The plastic coated wire is often recycled, however, telephone wire theft is a problem. I have heard that there are now places that women can source the telephone wire legitimately. The government […]
Zulu Beadwork
The generic term for necklace in Zulu is umgexo or the plural imigexo. The simplest of these necklaces is a single strand of beads called the umgexo wamaqanda which means a necklace of eggs. Here at the Duban bead market a woman beads some much more complex designs. There is significance in the large beads […]