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

Museum of International Folk Art
Santa Fe, New Mexico
November 17, 2024–November 17, 2025

Artists in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region have long been turning brightly colored phone wires into a range of beautiful and functional objects, including beer pot lids (izimbenge), vessels, platters, and plates, as well as ambitious sculptural assemblages. This exhibition foregrounds the traditional knowledge behind the works as well as the experiences and creative processes of individual artists.

Photo courtesy of Museum of International Folk Art

Alfred Ntuli’s house-shaped lidded basket, 2011, is made from woven telephone wire and steel wire. It will appear in iNgqikithi yokuPhica / Weaving Meanings at the Museum of International Folk Art.