Ndebele d’Afrique du Sud

Abstract

Within just a few years, during the international cultural boycott against apartheid, the South African Ndebele managed to associate a specific visual identity to their culture through mural painting and beadworking. South African white researchers as well as foreign media and tourists have been lured by geometrical patterns and colour contrasts. The rise of this « recent traditional aesthetic style » is relevant to a strategy of identity recognition which is closely related to the making of Ndebele in history. The post-apartheid period raises new questions about the future of this art and the artistic status of its two main female représentatives.

Keywords

• Ndebele
• Ndzundza
• art
• identity
• history
• mural painting