Embroidered stories, remembered lives : the Mogalakwena Craft Art Development Foundation storybook project

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?