Ubuhle Women: Beadwork & the Art of Independence: Opening Reception
Come celebrate the beauty and strength of women through beadwork and art at our event "Ubuhle Women: Beadwork & the Art of Independence"!
Ubuhle Beads is a collective of female beadwork artists founded in 1999 by Bev Gibson and master beader Ntombephi Ntombela on a sugar plantation in South Africa that empowers and changes the perspective of African women. The organization allowed for women artists
of South Africa to have a platform to use their generational talents for financial independence that was not previously available.
Utilizing Czech glass beads and inspired by Xhosa headscarves and skirts the artists wore growing up, Ubuhle Women: Beadwork & the Art of Independence portrays a beadwork style developed by those living in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa called ndwango meaning “cloth” or “rag”. They tell personal stories through symbols of their culture and abstract figures.