IsiKhalo Sam
Textile and beads
153 cm x 62 cm
Artist’s Statement
isiKhalo sam (2025) is a textile that explores memory, traditions and migration. As a result of
colonialism and apartheid, I have had to grow up away from my ancestral home, as my family had to migrate to the bigger cities in the country, losing full access to personal history. The chosen materials attempt to access these forcefully lost cultural traditions. Beaded pieces in Xhosa culture have shapes such as diamonds, lines, and triangles, which carry a rich history. I borrowed from techniques I learned from my paternal grandmother, who worked as a seamstress and beader. This actively gives homage to the art-making techniques employed by black women, which are often ignored and erased in contemporary art. Who is to say that this is craft? This work actively challenges colonial narratives of what is deemed as fine art.
The use of Umbhaco cloth makes reference to garments worn by Xhosa women during
traditional ceremonies in many parts of the Eastern Cape. The colour red extends this further
to make reference to what Noni Jabavu terms “the red blanket people”. The rough unfinished
edges make reference to black womanhood — that it is okay to show up “unfinished” and
“unpolished”. We do not have to adopt the status quo. This work is not static; it moves and it
is loudly crying out. The 31 beaded diamond shapes and strings make reference to 31 years of democracy, asking that we attend to the unfinished freedom project, one by one. Bead by bead.