iNgqikithi yokuPhica / Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa

Ntombfuthi (Magwaza) Sibiya was raised in KwaNongoma in the rural northern region of KwaZulu-Natal and moved to Isiyanda in 1992. Anamaria Dlamini first exposed Ntombifuthi to hard-wire weaving and was kind enough to teach her. Ntombifuthi has been crafting her unique, abstract voice since she first encountered a geometric pattern that resonated with traditional beadwork from her home of KwaNongoma. Since that first inspiration, her designs have morphed organically, developing in her mind serendipitously. Ntombifuthi’s late husband was also supportive and assisted in concept design. Ntombifuthi’s work is collected in many local South African museums including the Phansi Museum and KwaMuhle Museum Collection. She sells her works at the African Art Centre, Zenzulu, and to private clients.

Bongeleni Mkhize was born in Greytown, South Africa but later moved to Siyanda with her mother Jaheni Mkhize, who made her mark in the legacy soft-wire telephone wire weaving. Taught by her mother, Bongeleni started selling her weavings in 1997 and she continues to build on her popular stich, exploring it further and moving her work in different directions. Bongeleni is teaching her son, Andile, ensuring her family’s legacy will be passed on to the next generation. Bongeleni sells her work at Zenzulu and to private collectors.

Dr. Thokozani Mhlambi is a musician and cultural thinker who has a strong sense of community and how the local and global connect. Building artistic visions using an internationalist methodology, Mhlambi uses his art and exhibitions in order to convey African stories and philosophies. He has been a visiting artist at Cite Internationale Des Arts in Paris and at universities in Germany, Finland, and Brazil. Mhlambi recently returned from an Artist Fellowship at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, where he was developing new work using ancient Zulu idioms.

Dr. Elizabeth Perrill is a professor of art histories at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The author of two monographs, Zulu Pottery (2012) and Burnished: Zulu Ceramics Between Urban and Rural South Africa (2022), Perrill has been working in South Africa, and specifically KwaZulu-Natal province since 2004, where she is currently leading a Modern Endangered Archives Project grant sponsored through the UCLA Libraries  and Arcadia, a London-based charitable foundation. 

Muziwandile Gigaba is a South African artist working across art disciplines, including ceramics, printmaking, and sculpture. He is a community curator and Indigenous knowledge expert for iNgqikithi yokuPhica, and an Art Entrepreneurship and Ceramics Lecturer at the Nelson Mandela University. He has participated in several international art residencies and his work is collected by local and international museums.

iNgqikithi yokuPhica / Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa features historical items alongside contemporary works of art, demonstrating individual and community-based ways of making and knowing. Curated in consultation with Indigenous Knowledge experts in broader Nguni and specific Zulu cultures, this exhibition sheds new light on this artistic medium, highlighting the experiences of the artists themselves through videos featuring interviews and the process of creating wirework.

The first major exhibition of telephone wire art in any North American museum, Weaving Meanings features a significant collection assembled and generously donated by David Arment and Jim Rimelspach, the David Arment Southern African Collection, IFAF Collection, Museum of International Folk Art. The exhibition is guest curated by Dr. Elizabeth Perrill in collaboration with community curator and lead Indigenous knowledge expert Muziwandile Gigaba.

iNgqikithi yokuPhica Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa is supported by New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, the International Folk Art Foundation, and Friends of Folk Art, with lead support from David Arment and Jim Rimelspach. Additional major support comes from Courtney and Scott Taylor, a grant from the William H. and Mattie Wattis Harris Foundation, and the generosity of donors to the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s Exhibition Development Fund, including the Wilson Foundation (in honor of David Arment and the Telephone Wire Basket project); Joan and Steve Grady; and Kelly and Ginger Hardage.