Zane Ngwenya, Indlukagogo, 82 x 101 cm (factoring the protrusion of the reeds)
The fashion artefact is made up of a fabric base using “amavovo” (Zulu beer strainer) and a textile manipulation technique that is created using the “amagcema” (reeds) from “icansi” (Zulu reed mat) is bound together using cotton string and references the craft used to create “icansi”. The artefact is intended to be presented as a hanging piece to link back to the conceptual narrative is it inspired by although it can also be placed on a figure form as a shawl.
“Indlukagogo”
Zane Ngwenya, Indlukagogo, 82 x 101 cm: side view - figure form view - back view
This story begins with the question of how to define the duality of being a young Zulu woman in a modern society. The intersectionality of my identity is my lived experience and the Eurocentric influences in my reality cannot be escaped but it is instead a chance to re-imagine. Decolonizing my creative references is the re-imagination that will allow for ancestral stories to be re-told through my craft. As a Zulu woman I am aware of the patriarchal dominance that exists in my culture but I wish to find the strength to challenge the suppression through my ancestors’ beliefs. Using the past in my present experience allows me to not only rely on Western ideologies to define how I view issues facing my community. My journey in remembering what has been forgotten starts with the female ancestor’s story.
This is a story of reverence; a spiritual acknowledgment of the destiny of a married Zulu woman. This can be viewed as an ancestral calling where a woman comes into a home to raise it; a translation of the Zulu saying, “uzovusa umuzi”.This calling carries on even in the afterlife where female ancestors are considered to hold a powerful role in the Zulu family as spiritual guardians.
A role that is honoured through “indlukagogo”, which means grandmother’s house. This grass hut is built specifically to house an alter for the lineage of female ancestors in a family and the spiritual centre of the home called “umsamo”. I wish to tell the story of the power Zulu women have in their homes through this fashion artefact. This power can only be exercised in a community that honours this gender role and is not overcome by the patriarchal challenges that exist in our culture. One can only honour something they remember and this artefact is a reminder that uses the deconstructed matriarchal mediums of “amavovo” (Zulu beer strainer) and “amacansi” (Zulu reed mats) to symbolise“indlukagogo” and also “ibhayi” which is a shawl worn by married women as a sign of respect which I now reclaim as a sign of strength and reverence. The artefact is suspended rather than placed on a figure form to represent the unseen realm of the ancestors which is housed in “indlukagogo”.
All these layered elements merge into a creation that carries the energy of the female Zulu ancestor and also creates a visual story that is a personal act of decolonizing creative references and ways of making as a fashion creative.
Zane Ngwenya is a 27 year old Durban based fashion creative who is a part of a generation of socially conscious creators. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Fashion Design at the Durban University of Technology whilst working as a fashion educator. Defining elements in her work are textile manipulation and graphic prints which have earned her a mention as a Design Indaba Emerging Creative. Conceptually, her work focuses on using fashion as a means to create a visual language that communicates her lived experience. This language has evloved with her personal journey of being a young Zulu woman in a post-colonial South Africa. The journey now brings her to a place of exploring new ways of creating that will challenge the eurocentric fundamentals in fashion design.