Coiled

In collaboration with The Siyazama Project

Commissioned by Editions in Craft

2010, Durban, South Africa

Editions in Craft (EiC), established by Stockholm based curators Reneé Padt and Ikko Yokoyama, is a production platform that invites artists, designers and traditional craftspeople to collaborate on projects.

By joining and exchanging expertise and by merging traditional techniques with contemporary practice, it seeks to explore new, more equitable strategies for the production, marketing and distribution of design and crafts products.

We were invited to take part in EiC’s kick-off project, in collaboration with the Siyazama Project a bead craft collective of women from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, initiated by professor Kate Wells. Commonly the Siyazama ladies create traditional dolls representing animal and human figures.

In designing a new platform, the goal was to only implement locally found materials in order to keep the process possible and accessible.

Coiled consists of a series of interior accessories that finds inspiration in traditional ceramic vessels – earth wares constructed by hand coils of clay. The intricate beadwork of the Siyazama women, in both pattern possibilities and color, is reminiscent of the inherently scaled skin of a serpent.

Each piece is made by encircling the serpentine beaded coils, like the natural movements of a boa constrictor, into the resulting form of a unique interior accessory. The Siyazama women use their own artistic vision to determine the patterns and colors for the ’skin’ of each piece.

With special thanks to:
Kate, Bob, Jean and the Siyazama ladies

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process