Vivianne Garside gives talk on Zulu beadworks

Posted on December 30, 2010, Thursday

KUCHING: Local crafts and culture enthusiasts had a taste of South African crafts when Vukani Zulu Cultural Museum curator Vivianne Garside gave a heritage talk at the Sarawak Museum yesterday.

INTRICATE: Garside shows a piece of Zulu beadwork during the heritage talk at Sarawak Museum yesterday.

Garside regaled an audience of around 35 people about the history of Vukani Zulu Cultural Museum, located in Eshowe, Zululand. She also talked about the works from Vukani Collection Trust, a multi-cultural group of local residents who made it their mission to rescue old traditional items and create opportunities for craft makers to market their works to a contemporary audience.“We are continuously discovering new crafters of good standards,” Garside said.

The museum’s mandate was to support the community by opening new markets for the local crafters, most of whom were single mothers.The Vukani Zulu Cultural Museum was established in 1991 with personal collections of Rev Kjell and Bertha Lofroth.Garside explained that with local market abandoning organic-based beads and crafts in favour of those made from glass and plastic, traditional crafters were left in a quandary.“Rev Kjell asked the crafters to bring their goods to the mission, who tried and helped them sell it,” she said.

Rev Kjell, Bertha and their friend Baba Elliot Dludla became the driving force behind Vukani Association which almost single-handedly created a new market for Zululand crafters.Garside added that Zulu beadwork was the most popular tourist souvenir, although they were usually very derivative of the traditional work.