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Title: Zibambele - Do it Yourself
Description: ‘…to do things yourself and not to expect others to do things for us – let’s work together.’
Hlengiwe Dube was only 12 years old when she cemented her love affair with art and the world-renowned African Art Centre in Durban. The defining moment came with the message of love. She made a Zulu beaded love letter and sold it to the shop, as her mother needed the money to care for her ten children. This beautiful piece remains part of the African Art Center’s collection housed in the Killie Campbell Collection. Hlengiwe was always encouraged to use her hands profitably. She was motivated by the two most important women in her life - her mother Nesta and grandmother MaMbeki Dube who also made beadwork.
Now 27, Hlengiwe is an artist who specializes in beadwork. She is the shop manager at the African Art Centre and a field worker who travels up hill and down dale, visiting rural and urban artists in KwaZulu-Natal. She travels by bus or taxi in good and bad weather, to fulfill her dream to help promote black artists and to preserve African cultures, customs and traditions.
In 2000 Hlengiwe won the Art and Culture category in the ‘Woman of the Year Awards’ and was also one of the Durban Metro achievers in the business category. Hlengiwe’s life revolves around the artists, her two children and the African Art Centre.
Dimensions: 25cm X 25cm
Materials: Beads and thread.
Exhibition: Major Minors I
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