Coffee With Weave Fortune
If you were having coffee with me, I would welcome you to my tangle of words, its warm and sunny, I think we have passed the peak cold of winter. What’s it look like on your end?
If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that I had the honour of attending a week long art exhibition at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. The Weave Fortune Exhibition was held as part of the celebration of 30 years of bilateral relations between South Korea and Zimbabwe.
The exhibition hosted by the Korean Embassy was organised by Just Project, a waste management initiative driven by a passion to find, use and transform trash into something we can use in our daily lives.
If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that the exhibition titled Weave Fortune drew inspiration from a Korean tradition of wishing or sharing blessings and good fortune complimented by the weaving of baskets. Reimagining and reinterpreting tradition to weave new fortune and blessings. Weave was also a metaphor for the intricate ways our lives are intertwined, you and me, humanity and nature, tradition and modernity even Zimbabwe and Korea.
The exhibition featured 8 crafters, four from Zimbabwe; Patch Zimbabwe, Paper Pieces, Vanhu Vamwe and Krafted Ink and four from Korea Just Project, Cueclyp, Gongyega, and Unrollsurface; showcasing environmentally conscious crafts created through upcycling, recycling, and reusing of waste materials.
Gladys Chibanda of Krafted Ink showed how they specialised in African textile waste, packaging and stationery. Their exhibition included notebooks, gift bags and gift boxes made from African print fabrics.
Rungano Nyamayedenga of Paper Pieces showcased their earrings and necklaces crafted from beads made from up-cycled paper collected from hairdressers.
Chido Kaseke of Patch (Maokoe) Zimbabwe crafted handbags made from hessian, a biodegradable fibre and leather sourced from local tanneries. Everything in their product line is handcrafted and inspired by Zimbabwe’s cultural heritage.
Vanhu Vamwe exhibited a macramé community collection of bags handmade by local women using cord made from recycled plastic bottles. They shared on how women’s crafts were not appreciated enough given how traditionally, women have been pivotal in preserving culture, being workers and home-makers, crafting a lot with their hands.
If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that exhibition served as a platform to amplify and empower women entrepreneurs, recognising their work during an event celebrating bilateral relations. There was also a fusion and cultural exchange between the two nations, the simplicity and minimalism in the Korean arts meeting the intricacy of Zimbabwean crafts and the tech and sustainable materials that could be used to streamline production of eco-friendly crafts.
The exhibition opened by the Korean Ambassador, was graced by the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture; and the Chief Director on behalf of the Permanent Sec of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises.
If you were having coffee with me, I would ask how crafty you are with your hands and if you could weave a fortune?
Whats been happening in your neck of the woods?
~B
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