Inspiration

The Living Grave Series is a commentary based on miscarriage narratives. As previously stated, 10 to 25 percent of documented pregnancies result in a miscarriages, and this number is even higher when it comes to younger girls, predominately in cases of child marriages.

Figure 1: Ndongeni, S (2019).  The Living Grave Series. Beaded neckpiece. 

Due to the sensitivity of the subject, I have decided to reply mainly on the Series title as a director for the viewer, similarly to the narrative design principles expressed by Metcalf and adopted by Byrne.  I have listed below my design outputs.

a. Fold-formed version
b. Beaded version

Xhosa beadwork from East London Museum

During my time at home in East London, I had visited the East London museum to get some information about the Xhosa people. I had an interesting conversation with one of the anthropologists from the museum, who gave me a lot of historical facts concerning the Xhosa people especially their beadwork. 

Ndongeni, S. (2019). Xhosa beadwork Exhibition. 

 The display in figure 1 forms part of several displays that are dedicated to exhibiting Xhosa beadwork. I have also included a closeup picture of the painting which was placed above the display as it shows drawings of Xhosa people wearing their jewellery.

 

As I will be using Xhosa bridal narrative as one of the bases for my chapter 3, it is important to understand some of the relevant Xhosa beadworks in terms of how they have used it in order to express their various narratives.
I will be discussing these under the headings listed below. 

a.       Which Issues are they addressing in their beadwork?

b.       How do they deal with them?

                                 i.      Which materials have they used and why?

                                  ii.            Which Techniques have they used?

                                iii.            What kind of Imagery and symbolism have theyused?

c.       How is their work similar to mine?

How is her work similar to mine?

ILobola/ bride price

The practice of paying lobola or dowry is one which is regarded as an integral part of many African marriages; it is, in fact, a practice which is not limited or exclusive to African cultures but is part of other cultures in the world such as the Indian culture and the Jewish people, who refer to it as dowry  (Gullapalli, 2009) (Liebenberg,n.d.).

 

Figure 1 Tina, T. (2018) Three uncles negotiating lobola. [ONLINE] ^[1]

1. Positives

The importance of the payment of the bridal price is seen as an act of respect for the bride and her family; as it is seen as a gesture of gratitude while also displaying his fidelity and commitment to his bride and also displaying good care of her by proving that he values her. Contrary to many false beliefs, the bride price is not a payment of the daughter nor is it the purchase of a bride, it is, however, a gesture which displayed the man would be capable of providing for the bride and that he and his family were people of substance (Magubane, 2001). Also, it was a security bond posted by or on behalf of the bridegroom as a pledge of good treatment; a man was not likely to abandon such a substantial investment, and in most societies, if a divorce resulted because of abuse and ill-treatment, all or most of the lobola was forfeited.

 

Since lobola is a gesture most families do not require the full payment to be made before marriage as it is believed that since no true price can be placed on their priceless daughter. A man can never fully pay lobola but is however responsible to make payments (for a lack of word) to the family for life. These payments come in the form of making sure that the needs and wants of the bride’s family are taken care of when they arise, these thus count as the bottomless lobola price the husband is to pay for the daughter he has taken as a wife (Ngema, 2013).

  i.            Negatives

Although meant to be a gesture of gratitude and a symbol that the daughter will be well taken care of; like many things within society this practice has been abused and the process has been polluted by many people to satisfy their own personal desires and interests. These have been done through the demand of a bridal price which is beyond the means of what the man can afford, or in some cases families may require the man to pay an amount which is too high as the family considers their own personal needs and wants.

In other instances, the process becomes tainted as the daughter becomes a bargaining chip or even an object to be sold to the highest bidder and her family disregards what is in the best interest of their daughter to make money off her marriage. An example of such cases would be the process or the marriage which is the result of ukuthwala (bridal abduction).

Another way the best interest of the bride does not play a key factor is when the family forces her to marry for money or status rather than to marry for love. This type of marriage is then regarded as forced marriage, rather than arranged marriage.

The payment of lobola has been one of the many factors within the African native cultures which has aided in the difficulty of divorce. With a process so flawed and ungoverned by neither law nor many restrictions besides what families decide is just and fair payment, should such a practice be found to be relevant in this contemporary and liberal world we live in? It actually should still be practiced as there are several consequences that are directly linked to the refusal to partake in the practice. One of these being that the couple may not be fully received by both families if they do not choose to adhere or observe important cultural practices. The wife may be ostracized by other family members of the husband’s family and may not be considered a true makoti within the family.

Daenerys Targaryen

The day I saw this piece of jewellery in an episode of Game of Thrones, I was so inspired. I took several glances at the piece, which included multiple pause and rewind moments, and I had decided at that very moment earlier this year, that it would be the inspiration for one of my narrative pieces.

Interestingly enough, when I was busy looking for this picture, I came across one of her early screens hots from season one, when she had just been forced into marriage by her brother. I thought to myself just much the character had grown and turned the tables of her circumstances, from being forced into a marriage and then dominated by this man, to being loved by him and his people, to then become the khaleesi, the mother of dragons, the unburnt, the breaker of chains etc.

Taking quick mental flash backs of the episodes, I see a girl who was seen solely as an item of trade for her brother's personal, to then become a young queen that won the hearts of those around her and inspired respect. 

Black tulip

I was busy looking at tulips in order to refine my platafrica design and I came across the purple tulip in the picture below and I just was drawn in like a fish caught on a hook. I just liked the shade of purple as it reminded me of the sunrise from the previous post. I won't be using this shade of purple for the platinum design, as I started looking at the various shades in which the tulip can be found and I came across black tulips and I was settled.

 As I dived in to investigate the validity of the black tulip I found that there was an interesting history to it, one of patience, striving for something that the eye has not seen, yet the mind could envision. Which reminded me of 1 Corinthians 2:9

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

I found this to be so true as we sometimes limit ourselves to what the eye has known and what we have been told rather than believing and striving for what could be, I feel that as designers we should strive to look beyond what has been done, and the restrictions we have or we too will never reach the day where we can create our own black tulips, 11 years is a long time to work tirelessly towards what eyes have not seen.

Inspiration

Today when I was stepping outside to go into the car, I saw this beautiful sunrise and was so taken in by the array of colour. All I could think when I saw this was how could I capture the essence of beauty and colour that stood before me? I would really love to make or even write a piece based on the shades of purple. Yes, that is the title, shades if purple. 

Own picture

Poetry meets art

I came across this video today and I thought that I should share. The poet in the video is named George, he has based this particular poem on a photograph captured by Paul Graham. What I liked about this spoken word piece is how he has not just related to the woman, but has however written as if he was the woman. This is a stance I have also tried to take with some of the poetry which will be reflective or the inspiration for my own work.


Poetry meets art: George the Poet inspired by Paul Graham