THE ZULU - (Portions
from of pages 75 and 49)
Dr Hilgard Stanley Schoeman was
a well-known expert on Nguni beadwork from South Africa. In this 1975
publication, he tried (unsuccessfully) to put an end to what became
'academic rhetoric' surrounding so called 'Zulu love letters'. Therein he
wrote:
Traditional Zulu beadwork,
arguably one of the most singular examples of this craft, was at one time
far more than a merely decorative art of weaving small glass beads into
aesthetically pleasing patterns. First-hand empirical research has shown
that these designs were a surprisingly articulate vehicle of communication
that helped to regulate behaviour between individuals of opposite gender.
Cont...
THE ZULU - (Portions from of pages
78 and 82)
Something of this has
filtered through to traders, early missionaries and others as half-truths
which, supported by poorly substantiated assumptions, have led to a popular
perception of Zulu "love letters". This description has been
indiscriminately applied to insignificant beaded trinkets, sometimes tagged
with simplistic interpretations of colour symbolism, which curio dealers
have been selling to uninformed tourists in search of souvenirs. Cont.
THE ZULU - (Portions from of pages
44 and 83)
Such items have very little connection with beadwork that still fulfilled
its social function when research was conducted in the traditional heartland
of the Zulu in what is now the province of KwaZulu-Natal, some thirty years
ago. The facts were assembled and subjected to detailed analysis from 1964
to 1968 and the results were subsequently published in scientific journals
and popular-scientific periodicals. These findings have since been revised
and refined to reveal something of the informal yet actively
institutionalized code that formed the basis of this unique art form.
THE ZULU - (Part of page 28)
Alice Mertens and
Hilgard Schoeman visually and contextually detail Zulu life and
tradition. A brief historic account of tribal migrations is followed
with indepth observations, that include superstitions concerning birth,
infancy, initiation ceremonies, marriage and death.
THE ZULU - (Part of page 41)
'The Zulu' contains 167 high quality photographs that include colour, as well as
fantastic studies in black and white .
THE ZULU - (Part of page 144)
THE ZULU - (Portions from of pages
136 and 140)
Home construction (a lost art)
is detailed right down to who collects the grass and who might tie the rope.
THE ZULU - (Part of page 116)
The section detailing the
production of beer pots is the best we have seen.
and
through 