wearing blanket

In the late 19th century, British colonizers forcibly displaced many Ndebele communities from their lands in South Africa’s Transvaal region and resettled them on nearby European-run farms, where they worked as indentured laborers. Divested of their native architectural traditions, Ndebele women pioneered a new practice: painting their prefabricated houses with vibrant murals that make skillful use of line, color, and contrast. The intricate beadwork embellishing this wool blanket and delicate nyoga—both worn for the first time on a young woman’s wedding day—draw from this new tradition. The soothing palette of blue, green, and violet punctuated by inky black and crisp white echoes the particular color scheme of the wearer’s painted house. The architectural reference is furthered by the thick beaded panels on the blanket, which feature stylized concrete facades of newer Ndebele homes.