This November UU Santa Monica welcomes an array of artwork created by the women of the South African Mogalakwena Craft Art Development Foundation. We look forward to seeing you at the Opening Reception

Sunday, November 6 from 12 noon to 1:30 pm. The exhibit will run through the end of the month.

 

“Mogalakwena,” which means "angry crocodile” in the language spoken by the Pedi people of South Africa, is based in the remote northwestern part of Limpopo Province. The Mogalakwena Craft Art Development Foundation was established at the end of 1994 by Dr. Elbe Coetsee, whose family has lived in the Limpopo Province for three generations. Dr. Coetsee has long had a passion for craft art: her hope when establishing the Mogalakwena Center was to support the economic and social uplift of the local Pedi community. She has since helped to create meaningful work in Limpopo, where there are millions of unemployed people.

 

The Mogalakwena Foundation has been instrumental in supporting and enabling the local Pedi community to rediscover and develop craft skills such as beading, embroidery, and weaving. Mogalakwena currently employs over 30 women at the project and is also implementing language, literacy, childcare, and other skills development programs. Practical first aid courses, AIDS awareness and care training, children’s art workshops, and basic principles of cultural tourism are also taught at the foundation.

 

Artists featured by the center include Regina Setata (a widow supporting three children and two grandchildren) and Liesbet Nkoadi (who supports five children). These women plus others produce a wide variety of dazzling goods, from embroidery to woven baskets and Mtwane dolls. The Mogalakwena Craft Art Center encourages self-respect, self-sufficiency, cultural pride, and dignity for many members of these communities.

 

For more info or weekday appointments please contact Nancy Thompson at assistant@uusm.org or 310-829-5436 ext 102. For further info about this show or about exhibiting on the Art Wall at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica, please contact our art wall director, Beverly Alison

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