nyoga (women's ceremonial headdress)

unrecorded Ndebele artist, artist

nyoga (women's ceremonial headdress), late 1900s–1982

Where object was made: Transvaal Province, Union of South Africa (present-day Mpumalanga province, South Africa)

Material/technique: beading

Dimensions:
Object Length/Width (Length x Width): 161 x 24 cm
Object Length/Width (Length x Width): 9 7/16 x 63 3/8 in

Credit line: Gift of Reinhild Janzen

Accession number: 2007.3354

Not on display

Add to portfolio

If you wish to reproduce this image, please submit an image request

Images

Label texts

Roots and Journeys: Encountering Global Arts and Cultures

In the late 1800s, British colonizers forcibly displaced many Ndebele communities from their lands in South Africa’s Transvaal region and resettled them on nearby European-run farms, where they worked as indentured laborers. Divested of their native architectural traditions, Ndebele women pioneered a new practice: painting their prefabricated houses with vibrant murals that make skillful use of line, color, and contrast. The intricate beadwork embellishing this wool blanket and delicate nyoga - both worn for the first time on a young woman’s wedding day -draw from this new tradition. The soothing palette of blue, green, and violet punctuated by inky black and crisp white echoes the particular color scheme of the wearer’s painted house. The architectural reference is furthered by the thick beaded panels on the blanket, which feature stylized concrete facades of newer Ndebele homes.

Exhibition Label:
"Roots and Journeys: Encountering Global Arts and Cultures," Jun-2013, Cassandra Mesick
In the late 1800s, British colonizers forcibly displaced many Ndebele communities from their lands in South Africa’s Transvaal region and resettled them on nearby European-run farms, where they worked as indentured laborers. Divested of their native architectural traditions, Ndebele women pioneered a new practice: painting their prefabricated houses with vibrant murals that make skillful use of line, color, and contrast. The intricate beadwork embellishing this wool blanket and delicate nyoga - both worn for the first time on a young woman’s wedding day -draw from this new tradition. The soothing palette of blue, green, and violet punctuated by inky black and crisp white echoes the particular color scheme of the wearer’s painted house. The architectural reference is furthered by the thick beaded panels on the blanket, which feature stylized concrete facades of newer Ndebele homes.