Main Gallery

With needle and thread

An exhibition of embroidered textiles compiled by Janetje van der Merwe
6 to 29 May 2021
 
The hand embroidered textiles done by three community groups will be exhibited:  KEISKAMMA ART PROJECT (Hamburg, Eastern Cape), KAROSS (Letsitele, Limpopo), MAPULA EMBROIDERIES (Winterveld, Gauteng) and some traditional Minceka done by the Tsonga-Shangaan women in the far Northern Limpopo.
 
All three projects are established embroidery groups in South Africa who have works hanging in museums in South Africa and abroad and they feature in many national and international publications on textile art.  All three groups are highly regarded and can be seen as the most important community art projects in their field in South Africa.  Covid-19 has had a severe economic impact on each project.
 
The Kaross embroidery project produces beautiful and evocative quality African embroidery items, which are 100% hand-crafted by women and men from VaTsonga and Northern Sotho cultural backgrounds since its inception in 1989.  The magic of Kaross products can be found in the embroiderer’s extremely skilled stitching and their affinity for unusual and artistic colour combinations, which are combined with well-designed Kaross images. 
 
The Keiskamma Art Project is part of the greater Keiskamma Trust, a South African not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the holistic care of the communities that live in the area.  The Keiskamma Art Project is famous for large scale monumental artworks, from the Keiskamma Tapestry on permanent exhibition at the Houses of Parliament in Cape Town to the Keiskamma Altarpiece which has toured North America and England for two years in the most prestigious cathedrals, such as Washington and Southwark.
 
MAPULA EMBROIDERIES will be celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year.  Currently, the project assists over 150 women in developing artistic skills as they create unique embroidered works for sale.  MAPULA EMBROIDERIES are internationally known for their depiction of Historical events and Social History through their embroideries.
 
Traditional Tsonga /Shangaan Minceka are also being shown at this exhibition as they can be regarded as influencing some of the embroiderers of Kaross and Mapula Embroideries.  To see these authentic and increasingly rare cloths in real life is a feast for the eye.