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EVENT | Beads and Beats with the Herd

On Saturday the 12th of October, David Krut Books was fortunate enough to play host to local designer and entrepreneur Mbali Mthethwa as she led a group of women in learning how to create their own beaded Zulu Love letters. David Krut Books have always had a passion to support and showcase local creativity, and so we were delighted to be presented this opportunity to work with Mbali.

This workshop was done as part of Design Week South Africa 2024. Powered by Yoco, this event Design Week South Africa aims to create a platform that celebrates design in South Africa, one that also promotes connections and collaboration. This event consisted of workshops, events and immersive experiences, carefully chosen to highlight the future of South African design.

Mbali Mthethwa is a multidisciplinary artist, researcher and cultural practitioner working to obtain her Honours in Anthropology from the University of Johannesburg. She also holds a Bachelors degree in Community Development from the University of Johannesburg. Mthethwa is the founder of The Herd Collective, a multi-award winning collaborative craft and design brand that works with women crafters based in Mpumalanga and Kwa-Zulu Natal. Together with the Herd, these women create contemporary jewellery and art from beads, clay and telephone wire, through processes rooted in African traditional culture.

The practice of creating beaded love letters, known as ubhala abuyise, meaning “one writes in order that the others should reply”, can be traced back to the 19th century. Zulu women used to create these small tokens of love to communicate their affection. In order to ensure that the message is perfectly imparted, the women would carefully consider their choice of colour and design, with each colour and each design holding different meanings. These beaded letters could also be used to communicate messages regarding marital status and gender.

The workshop was attended by eight women from various parts of South Africa, and from Austria and France as well. It was wonderful to see how the interest that people had in this practice, and that this interest spreads beyond our borders. The women who attended were both professional creatives, as well as those who simply had an interest in exploring creativity.

It was a truly beautiful experience. We want to thank Mbali and the Herd for letting us be a part of it, and we want to thank all the women who came. We would also like to thank Thabo Mthobeni, Design Week South Africa and Yoco for capturing the event and sharing these beautiful images with us.