Abstract:
The ability to create records depends on a number of social, political and economic factors.
Throughout history certain groups have been better equipped to produce and maintain
records, leading to situations in which particular views and ideas about society have been
privileged at the expense of others. Furthermore, the nature of the written word makes it
difficult for groups without a written culture to challenge records, causing their memories to
be disregarded. Since the 1960s there has been growing interest in finding these ‘forgotten’
voices of the past, some being those of women. Finding such written traces can be frustrating
and painstaking, especially material traces which hold clues to women of indigenous or native
communities. This article discusses whether the embroidered story cloths produced by the
Mogalakwena Craft Art Development Foundation are a means of giving previously silent
native women a voice, allowing them to communicate and raise awareness despite their
lack of education and certain language barriers. Do these projects have the transformative
potential they claim, not only for the community in which they are created, but even on a
national level?
