African Art Centre celebrates Christmas
“An African Christmas” will feature a wide range of affordable handcrafted beaded, wood carved, telephone wire and embroidered ornaments.
THE African Art Centre will open its annual Christmas exhibition on Thursday, 11 November.
This year’s exhibition, titled An African Christmas will feature a wide range of affordable handcrafted beaded, wood carved, telephone wire and embroidered ornaments produced by artists and crafters from the KwaZulu-Natal region.
Since its inception in 1959, one of the Centre’s core objectives has been to facilitate development projects to enhance the creative skills of crafters and artists. The new direction of the Centre to make craft more contemporary but keeping the African aesthetic has become the focus of the development project which was the precursor to the 2016 Christmas exhibition. It was decided that this year’s new design theme An African Christmas would break away from the traditional Christmas look and will draw inspiration from contemporary vibrant African textile designs.
Crafters who have contributed towards the exhibition are Happiness Dladla, Dumsile Mathe, Thokozane Mathe, Ntombi Mbambo, Mavis Jali, Nqobile Jeza, Tholani Mchunu, Ntombizonke Hlambisa, Maningi Mbonambi, Hlengiwe Mbhele, Mbaliyethu Mabuza, Ntokozo Mseleku, Sphindile Nkosi, Widus Mtshali, Sibusiso Gumede, Bheki Mkhumbuzi, Sibusiso Maphumulo, Phumlani Mbhele, Jabulani Mkhize and Vincent Tshulupi.
An African Christmas is not just about the visual energy but its combination with dynamic sounds therefore this year’s exhibition will be opened by Sazi Dlamini. Sazi is known as a composer and performer in the unique style of South African township.
For additional information, contact the African Art Centre on 031 303 4634, or visit at 94 Florida Road, Morningside.
