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The Collector(s) / Donor(s) Marsha MacDowell is the Head of the Folks Arts Division at Michigan State University Museum, and also serves as a member of the University's Department of Art faculty. Kurt Dewhurst is the Director of Michigan State University Museum, Curator in the Museum's Folks Arts Division, and a member of the English Department faculty at Michigan State University. Dewhurst and MacDowell, who often work as a team, made their first trip to South Africa in 1997. During their initial and subsequent trips to South Africa their long-standing research interests in both regional traditional arts and Native American basketmaking, beadwork, and carving traditions drew them to focus on similar genres of specific peoples situated in regions of South Africa. This object as well as a number of other pieces were collected for the Museum within the context of this field research. Collector(s) / Donor(s) Statement The Object(s) This is a shallow wire basket made from telephone wire. According to South African art historian Anitra Nettleton, the practice of weaving baskets with telephone wire dates back to at least the 1960s and though little has been written about the tradition, one can be sure that it ultimately derives from the rich and long tradition of basket weaving associated with the Zulu- and Swasi-speaking peoples of this region. They may also be seen as a continuation of the Zulu practice of decorating wood prestige objects with wire-woven designs. Gary van Wyk, a specialist on South African art, notes that such wire crafts in South Africa were in some instances subtly connected to sabotage--wire from fences, telephone lines, etc. were "appropriated" to create such objects, playing havoc with the infrastructure of the Western world. Baskets with figurative imagery are a relatively recent phenomenon directed primarily at the tourist and local art markets. The imagery on this basket depicts the South African national football (soccer) team. The word, "Bafana" is repeated twice, meaning literally, "the boys, the boys"--an expression used by South Africans when referring to their team. Two orange goal posts are depicted at opposite sides of the bowl. Twelve football players are depicted, ten with brown hands, legs and faces (representing black skin), and two with light pink hands, legs and faces (representing white skin). This has become a rather popular theme. Further Information Books and Articles Charlene Cerny and Suzanne Seriff, eds. Recycled Re-Seen: Folk Art from the Global Scrap Heap. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996. Internet Resourcesnone
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