This November UU Santa Monica welcomes an array of different artwork, created by the women of the South African Mogalakwena Craft Art Development Foundation. We look forward to seeing you at the Opening Reception on Sunday, November 6 from 12:00 noon – 1:30pm. 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 north-western 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 on property in the Limpopo Province for three generations. Dr. Coetsee has long had a passion for craft art and her hope when establishing the Mogalakwena Center was to help support the economic and social uplift of the local Pedi community, where 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 thirty 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, (widow, supporting three children and two grandchildren); and Liesbet Nkoadi, (supporting  five  children). These women plus other produce a wide variety of dazzling goods, from embroidery to basket weaving and Mtwane dolls. Through their craft work, the Mogalakwena Craft Art Center encourages self-respect, self-sufficiency, cultural pride and dignity for many members of these communities.

 

Contact Nancy for more info or weekday appointments at assistant@uusm.org or 310-829-5436 ext 102.

Contact Our Art Director, Beverly Alison, at balison@aol.com for further info about this show or about exhibiting on our Art Wall.