Yale Collaboration brings Hlengiwe Dube to the School of Art

In Fall 2023, the Yale School of Art will welcome renowned South African beadwork artist Hlengiwe Dube to lead a four-day workshop in traditional Zulu beadworking. Dube will be an artist in residence at School of Art beginning Monday, September 18 through Thursday, September 21, 2023.

Born in 1974 in New Hanover, South Africa, Dube moved to the valley of a thousand hills in KwaZulu Natal—heartland of the Zulu Kingdom—at the age of nine. Here she learned to bead from her grandmother, and sold her first piece of beadwork, a ‘love letter’ necklace at the age of 12. From her grandmother and mother, she gained a deep knowledge and appreciation for the history of Zulu beadwork, especially the meanings of different colors and patterns: the language of beads.

She has since devoted herself to the study of beadwork and to the preservation of historic beadworking techniques. Author of several books, she has worked with museums in South Africa and the U.S. to help develop and interpret their collections. Today her life revolves around artists and crafters practicing today in KwaZulu Natal. As Dube notes: “I love my work because it gives me an opportunity to help people understand that as long as they have two functional hands, they can never starve.“ Beadwork has been incorporated by the people of southern Africa into articles of dress and adornment since at least the 16th century when glass beads, imported through international trade, were readily combined with indigenously produced materials. By the early twentieth century, considered the golden age of beadwork, women across the region developed innovative techniques and designs that pushed the medium to new heights. In 2020, the Yale University Art Gallery acquired a collection of 93 exquisite beadwork items of dress and adornment dating from 1850 - 1910 which Dube has helped to contextualize and interpret. For more information on this ongoing collaboration watch the YouTube video, “Beads that Speak: Learning the Language of South African Beadwork.”

This program is generously supported by John and Kate Carrafiell, the Yale School of Art’s Cross-Cultural Fund and the Yale University Art Gallery. The workshop is hosted by the Yale School of Art’s Graphic Design Department and Sculpture Department. Dube will be resident at the School of Art’s Sculpture Department at 36 Edgewood Ave. Students can come in and out of the studio to watch and speak with Dube at work. She will lead hands-on workshops each day with the students who sign up.