Arts and crafts include a wide range of pursuits and pastimes involving the use of one’s own hands and talent. While some crafts have been practiced for centuries, others are new innovations or popularisation of skills that were formerly only practiced in a relatively small area. The artisans of South Africa are very skilled at fashioning utensils, animal sculptures, religious figurines, and depictions of daily life from wood. However, the advancement of technology has allowed our natives to explore crafts in more innovative and creative ways that have been heavily influenced by a generation of expressionists.
Baskets
Makhosazane Sekgwama is a fiber artist that specialises in crochet product design. Her work is influenced by the natural landscapes of KZN, where she spent the most of her formative years and came from an artistic family. Her business, ROSA HANDMADE, makes home furnishings like rugs, pouffes, blankets, and baskets. Her handmade goods are fashioned with recycled cotton fabric from local textile manufacturers. Sekgwama describes a great artist as someone who can develop and create goods that address pressing environmental issues in the most visually beautiful manner. These goods ought to be multipurpose, incredibly robust, and eco-friendly.
Tufted Rugs
Tufting is a process used to make textiles in which a thread is put on a main basis. It is an old method of creating warm clothing and for the young, active, and self-sufficient modern artist Farai Engelbrecht, also known as Samurai Farai, he emulates his signature artworks into a beautifully crafted rug. Engelbrecht draws inspiration from the specifics of people in society, the occurrences and subtleties of human interactions, and the discussion of what goes on emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually inside each of us as individuals. His work has a significant focus on mental health and the several selves that one person might have. His paintings convey a sort of upbeat, innocent hope through the use of vivid, brave colour and lines.
Artwork
Talia Ramkilawan, a Cape Town born artist invites us to explore the moments she has carefully chosen to reflect the beauties of life. This is accomplished by the vivid visuals she creates using a tapestry technique that requires a lot of labor. “My ancestors wildest dreams II” express artistic musings on erotica and tenderness that are ingrained in the mandate to be brown, queer, and rebellious, as well as how we manage pleasure. This is dramatically sparked by the playfulness of colour and texture working together. The artist combines still life, portraiture, and moments with unusual uses of material to express tales of intimacy, leisure, and celebration. Talia asks us to partake in some of the gratifying pleasures she has freely sought out in her world.
