cover image Ndebele

Ndebele

Clarke Margaret Courtney, Margaret Courtney-Clark. Rizzoli International Publications, $60 (200pp) ISBN 978-0-8478-0685-0

This handsome photographic essay on the decorative arts of Ndebele women displays their ceremonial beadwork and the remarkable geometric designs they paint on their huts, outbuildings, walls, gateways, windows and interiors. Driven from their homes by the SouthAfrican government, several hundred thousand Ndebele people have been forced to resettle in a crowded, unproductive ""homeland,'' KwaNdebele, in northeastern Transvaal where, despite all that has been done to them, the talented women of the tribe continue to practice their art with vigor, flair and skill, now using acrylic paints, plastic cloths and other high-tech materials instead of the traditional earths, skins and organic dyes. Some of the photos show structures that were subsequently destroyed. (July 2)