4 – 28 April 2012
Hand embroidered images created by Sue Dowding – embroidered by Ellen Dlamini, Phindile Gwebu, Bonsile Ndzabele and Mary Dlamini.
Sue Dowding explains: “Kadzeni” is a visual interpretation of a collection of stories written and published by Phyllis Savory in her book “ Swazi Fireside Tales” printed in 1972. The stories are based on those collected by E J Bourhill and J B Drake in 1908. As such, the exhibition, meaning “Stories from the Past” records stories passed down orally over hundreds, perhaps thousands of years and captured in writing by these authors in the 20th Century. Phyllis Savory says in the introduction to her book “ .. in the steady march of civilisation, the Folk Tales, as with the ancient customs, are all too quickly disappearing into the abyss of the past and, while there still remain a few old people who know them, it is imperative that these colourful and delightful old tales be recorded in the culture that is the heritage of the African people”.