iNgqikithi yokuPhica / Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa
November 17, 2024 - November 17, 2025
To view the exhibition trailer, click HERE.
The spectacular art of telephone wire weaving is the subject of iNgqikithi yokuPhica / Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Foregrounding artists’ voices, Weaving Meanings shares histories of the wire medium in South Africa, from the 16th century uses as currency to the dazzling artworks wire weavers create today. From beer pot lids (izimbenge) to platters and plates, from vessels to sculptural assemblages, works in the exhibition speak to the continued development and significance of this artistic tradition, both locally in KwaZulu-Natal and to global markets and audiences.
Weaving Meanings 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 generously assembled and donated by David Arment and Jim Rimelspach, the David Arment Southern African Collection. The exhibition is guest curated by Dr. Elizabeth Perrill in collaboration with community curator and lead Indigenous knowledge expert Muziwandile Gigaba.
To make a donation to help support this important project, please click HERE.
Image Credit: Telephone wire plate by Ntombifuthi (Magwaza) Sibiya, 515 x 425 mm. Museum of International Folk Art. Photo by Andrew Cerino.
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The Art Underground: Fantasy Coffins of Ghana
July 26, 2026 - March 31, 2027
The Art Underground: Fantasy Coffins of Ghana features the works of five well-known fantasy coffin artists. “Fantasy” or “design” coffins are handmade figurative wooden coffins created by Ga communities of Ghana. The coffins honor the aspirations and achievements of the deceased through representations of the objects, ideals, or fantasies most important to them in life. The exhibition will feature two dozen fantasy coffins connected to the Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop located in Teshie-Nungua, Ghana. The exhibition will trace the evolution of this art form from its inception by Kane Kwei in the 1950s through its development as a funerary tradition, and its subsequent embrace by the international art market.
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