ifa crafted

𝘖𝘬𝘸𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘶 𝘖𝘬𝘸𝘦𝘻𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘢 📍 @vovotelormb The Johannesburg showcase of our our research exhibition with @ifa_crafted is on for display at Vovo Telo RMB, Sandton. Heritage Documentation | Niamh Walsh-Vorster/ @niamh.ashling In collaboration with @kznsagallery Project and funded by First Rand Foundation.

A Happy New Year from the ifa crafted team! We've had an amazing first year and incredible response to our launch, and look forward to sharing more about ifa as we grow and develop as a brand and heritage project. Pictured: 1. Hardwire woven telewire vessel in Black, Silver, Gold and Chartreusse. By Master telewire weaver, Busisiwe Mayise in Siyanda. 2. Tapered utensils holder in Tuna, Orange & Purple Brown. By Benzene Mkhize in Siyanda. 3. Hand carved wooden container. Made by Sibusiso Gumede in Manguzi. 4. Hand carved wooden container with lid. Made by Themba Mathenjwa in Manguzi. 5. Ceramic candelabra. Made by Sibusiso Mthembu, a ceramic artist at the Phansi Museum in Durban. Photos: Paulo Menezes Our shop is still open at the @kznsagallery until the 18th of January!

INSTALLATION VIEWS | Okwethu okwezandla | 5 December 2025 - 18 January 2026 | Park Gallery As we welcome 2026, we reflect on our heritage. uMasingana (January) marks the beginning of a new cycle - a time of renewal, intention, and possibility. The exhibition currently showing in our Park Gallery, 'Okwethu okwezandla' draws attention to KwaZulu-Natal’s long history of umsebenzi wezandla - skilled handiwork. Beyond making, it invites us to think and speak through our hands, reminding us of renewal, care, and continuity. As we step into 2026, we do so with renewed light and energy, grounded in heritage and committed to forging legacies that speak to everyday people! Please do visit the KZNSA Gallery and witness this generous gesture, curated by Dr Rachel Baasch/ @drbadbaaschi and Russell Hlongwane @russel.hlongwane This project is supported by the First Rand Foundation.

Shop views of the ifa crafted shop at the @kznsagallery ! If you are in KZN this December and January, pop in to have a browse and shop through our collections! It's a rare chance to see the ifa products in person, and to buy directly from us in a retail setting. The KZNSA is our birthplace, and the connections the @kznsashop has with crafters and makers in KZN served as a starting point for the project. We are proud to be exhibiting and selling in our home province! Shop local this Christmas and get something handmade and completely unique for yourself, your friends, family and/or colleagues. The ifa shop is open until the 18th January 2026. Photos: Paulo Menezes

𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 & 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 The ARL resident questioner and prober. Russel Hlongwane led the team on site visits with critical perspectives and cultural shifting to help elevate the project's research to be located in time and place, while tied to history and revealing blindspots in the presentations of crafters and their contributions to the creative sector. Hlongwane is a Durban-based cultural producer and creative industries consultant whose work navigates the intersections of heritage, modernity, culture and tradition in Black life. His multidisciplinary practice includes cultural research, creative producing, writing, design theory and curatorship. He has contributed to major built-environment projects such as the UIA 2014 Congress and the eKhaya Nomkhaya research project, and is currently pursuing an MPhil in Southern Urbanism at UCT’s African Centre for Cities. Hlongwane’s curatorial portfolio includes co-curating the Pan-African Beyond Binaries exhibition; Uriel Orlow’s Theatrum Botanicum: Imbizo kaMafavuke; and shows such as Umongo weDolobha, The Hands That Feed You and The Behaviour of Public Art. He has curated film programmes including for the CNTRL SHFT Network festival, co-curated the Boda Boda Video Lounge with thirdspace, and co-convenes the research project uMqombothi, uBhokweni neJuba, exhibited internationally. He also produced the speculative video Ifu Elimnyama for NESTA.

𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 & 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 ArtsResearchLab's lead researcher, Dr. Rachel Baasch, collaboratively conceptualised the framework with the team. Engaged in writing, researching and critical conversations to present a dynamic take on the @ifa_crafted project. She co-curated the exhibition currently on show in the @kznsagallery Park Gallery. Baasch is an artist and an art historian with experience in Fine Art practice, transdisciplinary collaboration, visual and performing arts and research within the context of Africa and the global south. She holds a BFA, MFA (Fine Art) and PhD (Art History) from Rhodes University (RU). She is a Research Associate in the NRF SARChI Geopolitics and the Arts of Africa research team at RU. She has supervised Masters and PhD students and lectured in the Fine Art school at RU from 2017-20. Between 2021 and 2023 she worked as a painting and theory lecturer and the Acting Head of Department in Fine Art and Jewellery Design at DUT. She has facilitated workshops and consulted on arts-based research, practice-based research, and creative research methodologies at RU, Nelson Mandela University (NMU) and DUT. Her research has been published in the journals African Arts, Image and Text and De Arté. She is also a co-editor and contributor with Prof Stephen Foloranmi and Prof Ruth Simbao for the forthcoming book: Audacious Art Histories: Grounding the Arts of Africa.

𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 The @ifa_crafted heritage documentary photographer, Niamh, brings her photojournalist style and ethical photo-making methodologies and visual presentations to ARL. A photographer, writer and cultural producer with extensive project management and digital archiving experience. She is co-founder and programme director of the NPC Contemporary Archive Project (CAP), where she oversees curatorial programmes, exhibition production, digital archiving, proposal development and funding strategies. Her curatorial and production roles include curating Power Talks Durban (Goethe-Institut & African Centre for Cities). She served as Media Lead for the ArtsResearchLab (KZNSA), and supporting curatorial production for groundWork’s 25th Anniversary exhibition under Vaughn Sadie. She has acted as project manager for Unframed Podcast (Season 4) for Anthea Pokroy. She curated the KZN Arts & Craft G20 booth Spaza Boutique at Zimbali. Niamh’s earlier work includes mentoring for the ARTLAB Photography Programme and contributing to the Durban Centre for Photography. She has exhibited her photographic work, graduated from the BASA Cultural Producers Programme, and completed her MA dissertation in Visual Art at the University of Johannesburg.

𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 Our good time guy and drone flying film wizard, Nzu, spent the past several months filming, treating and narrative sequencing our final @ifa_crafted documentary.📽 With a background in corporate and television production, Nzu is known for creating impactful and engaging visual narratives. View his work in our exhibition, 'Okwethu Okwezandla', in the Park Gallery at @kznsagallery . 𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙢 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙬 Director of Photography | Nzuz'Enhle Mkhabela/ @nzu_s Sound Mixer & Boom swinger | Fanele S Zuma Camera Assistant | Siyabonga Gqwaru/ @untitled994

EXHIBITION OPENING | Okwethu Okwezandla | Friday, 5th Dec 2025 On Friday 5th of December the KZNSA Gallery opened 'Okwethu Okwezandla' in the Park Gallery - an exhibition of the heritage documentation of ifa crafted, undertaken by @artsresearchlab over a number of months and in various locations across KwaZulu-Natal. Curated by @drbadbaaschi and @russel.hlongwane , the exhibition details the legacy of craft in KZN that has informed ifa crafted design and our approach and, most importantly, the crafters and makers whose skills and work have produced the pieces we are so proud of! The exhibition runs until the 18th of January 2026. The ifa crafted shop is held on the Mezzanine Gallery, where ifa crafted pieces are available to purchase. Thank you to those that came to the opening, and we look forward to welcoming you all over the next 6 weeks! Photos: Paulo Menezes

Funded by the First Rand Foundation, Ifa Crafted works with KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) based crafters in a range of mediums to expand their practice and gain access to new markets. The ArtsResearchLab undertook the heritage documentation component of this project. This research documentation and insight into the conceptual framing of the heritage documentation process is presented in the KZNSA Park Gallery and opens on the 5th December 2025. This showcase explores the relationship between inherited knowledge and contemporary craft practice in KZN as it relates to the Ifa Crafted project. 𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 Russel Hlongwane/ @russel.hlongwane & Dr. Rachel Baasch/ @drbadbaaschi 𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒃𝒚 Niamh Walsh-Vorster/ @niamh.ashling 𝑽𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒃𝒚 Nzuz’Enhle Mkhabela/ @nzu_s 𝑪𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒕 𝒃𝒚 Ifa Crafted/ @ifa_crafted 𝑨𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒚 𝒐𝒇 Phansi Museum/ @phansi_museum

ifa crafted Pieces & their Makers 3/3 Isithebe Placemat, Dog & House | Abstract | Black, Natural The Zuma, Mkhize and Ntungwa families are based in Tshongweni outside Durban. They work together as an informal collective who weave mats made from ncema and induma grasses. The group is multi-generational with new designs being introduced by younger members. Photos: Paulo Menezes The ifa crafted exhibition is opening on Friday, 5th December at the @kznsagallery . It's a great opportunity to see more about the heritage documentation strand of ifa crafted, the makers and their craft, and to shop ifa crafted pieces in person!

ifa crafted Pieces & their Makers 2/3 Sindi Zuma splits a piece of iNduma (basket reed or Cyprus Payrus) in Etshongweni. This plant is dried and integrated into the isithebe mats and objects woven by the artist. Photo: Niamh Walsh-Vorster | @artsresearchlab Text: @artsresearchlab