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Cloak (Linaga & Nyoga)

Photo: Paul Macapia

Cloak (Linaga & Nyoga)

20th century

South African

Transvaal

Ndebele

Ndebele women relied on color to offset their difficulties as refugees in South Africa. Defeated by the Boers in the 1880s, and forced to work as laborers on farms or in mines, the Ndebele developed a way of controlling their domestic environments. Building low walls that created stages for entry and painting them with brilliant panels both inside and out became a hallmark of Ndebele creative rebellion that thrived under the oppressive regime of apartheid rule.

Only a bride would wear such an opulent expanse of exceptionally small seed beads-so small that commercial needles won't fit through their holes. Women sew these thousands of beads in place using sinew. The bride wore this garment with the soft fur of a goat hide up around her shoulders and let the central panels trail behind her on the ground like a snake when she danced. Named nyoga, or "snake tail," the sea of white beads is accented with a series of colored patterns that compliment the painted walls of their houses.

Patterns on walls and garments rely on geometry, but often have recognizable elements from South African life. The letters "TP" are seen here and represent the first characters of the Pretoria motor vehicle license plate. Triangles pointing up portray electric light fixtures. Ndebele were not allowed access to their own cars and electricity under apartheid so these elements added a note of protest over what was observed but not available to them.
Hide and beads
76 x 64in. (193 x 162.6cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.1285
Photo: Paul Macapia
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, African Panoplies: Art for Rulers, Traders, Hunters, and Priests, Apr. 21 - Aug. 14, 1988.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Documents International: Reflections in the Mirror: A World of Identity, Apr. 23, 1998 - June 20, 1999.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, A Bead Quiz, July 1, 2008 - July 1, 2009.
Published ReferencesMcClusky, Pamela. "Art of Africa." In Selected Works, pp. 35-52. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1991; p. 44, reproduced (as Bridal Cloak).

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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