The Barbara Tyrrell Collection

Tyrrell's childhood environment sparked her interest and fascination in traditional African dress and ceremonies. She studied at the University of Natal, after which she pursued a varied career in journalism, anthropology, art, drawing and occupational therapy.

Tyrrell is a global female artist widely known for her extensive, lifelong documentation of the traditional dress, ornamentation, and customs of the indigenous peoples of southern Africa. She travelled extensively to record, through her art, disappearing and lost cultural traditions.

Traditional attire and adornment serve as an outward sign of social and marital status. Hairstyles, tattooing, beadwork and colour denote different meanings across different South African traditions.

Women are the masters of their culture, designing and wearing highly intricate colour beadwork and clothing that acts as a visual language for their identity and culture. This wearable art communicates a woman's age, social and marital status.

The distinctive southern African cultures of the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Venda, Tsonga and Sotho all feature distinctive regalia where patterned fabric, beads, jewellery and ornamentation communicate age, visual, cultural and symbolic meaning.

The smoking pipe, or Inqawe, is an important part of Xhosa culture for both men and women. This painting depicts an unmarried woman smoking a pipe, a custom reserved for married women. She's confirmed single by not wearing a white apron. When someone dies, it's said they've ‘laid down their pipe’. Pipes are hand-carved from the wood of the hook-thorn tree. These pipes come in various styles and lengths and are based on gender, age, and social status and were traditionally beaded.