A PIONEERING cultural preservation project, Matobo Goes Fashion and Beyond, which debuted in Bulawayo last year, has successfully expanded nationwide, driving a range of innovative initiatives that celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Matobo’s women artisans in Matabeleland South province.
The ethno-fashion designs emerged from a 2014 competition initiated by Véronique Attala, a French geologist and founder of Ekhaya Gaia, an NGO that supports community development. She used to cycle from her home in Khumalo, Bulawayo, to Matobo district.
As she travelled through the wards, she noticed that some rondavels had vibrant mural art decorations, while others did not.
This observation led to a collaboration with the late public historian Pathisa Nyathi and John Knight to co-found the annual My Beautiful Home (MBH)/Comba Indlu Ngobuciko (CIN) competition.
Later, they incorporated André van Rooyen, Clifford Zulu, Violet Ki Tui, and Butholezwe Nyathi into the initiative.
Sikhulile Hlongwane, coordinator for Ward 17 and assistant to Attala, told IndependentXtra that the competition was launched to rekindle the ancient art of decorating and beautifying rural homesteads using natural materials.
“The main objective remains the restoration of traditional hut painting and maintaining hygiene in the homestead,” Hlongwane said.
The fashion designs of the Matobo Goes Fashion and Beyond project celebrate the heritage of Matobo’s centuries-long, women-led tradition of decorating mud huts with intricate paintings using natural materials such as ochre — a range of earthy, iron-rich rocks and pigments known as ikhumence in IsiNdebele.
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Often found in association with granite and along dry riverbeds, the soft rock was commonly used by early Stone Age societies for rock art.
A women’s arts association has since been established to serve as a marketplace for the artistic creations of the Matobo women, showcasing their talents in painting pots, walls and other crafts that have always been part of their tradition.
Although still in its infancy, having been founded last year, the association is responsible for selecting and representing the women artisans in exhibitions, competitions and other cultural and artistic synthesis activities they may be involved in.
Notably, in 2022, they travelled to Orange Elephant in Bulawayo to launch the German embassy-funded From Huts to Pots project. In collaboration with Ekhaya Gaia, the project aims to encourage the Matobo women to transfer their designs onto pots.
Previously, the designs of four women painters — Lackina Zulu, Portia Ndlovu, Khumbulani Ncube and Kathazile Mlala — were selected to adorn a two-metre white German bear sculpture named Tshomi (meaning friend in IsiNdebele).
The bear is part of a worldwide peace and tolerance initiative adopted by the German federal government, symbolising bilateral friendship and cultural exchange.
In January, the German embassy partnered with the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) in Bulawayo and the Fashion Council of Zimbabwe (FCoZ) for the From Hut to Canvas workshop, where 20 women experimented with acrylic paints.
Similarly, the Matobo Goes Fashion and Beyond project saw 13 designers from Bulawayo and Harare translating the designs into not only innovative fashion but also interior design and lifestyle products. Among them are Yolanda Ngwenya, Yvonne Muzembe, Noliwe Mhlophe, Sibusisiwe Falala, Judy Friend, Margaret Mathambo and Leeroy Sam Mapungwana.
The project concludes in May and is fully funded by the German embassy in Harare. It is a collaborative effort between the NGZ, FCoZ, and the Matobo Women’s Arts Association.
Project coordinators Joyce Chimanye, Yolanda Ngwenya, Nkanyeziyethu Malunga and Sikhulile Hlongwane have been instrumental in driving the project’s success.
Ngwenya, founder of Bhakar, a brand dedicated to sharing authentic African stories through a modern lens, found it effortless to connect with the project.
“All these women have so many different stories. They tell their stories through their hut paintings inspired by nature, folktales, community and spiritualism. I draw inspiration in similar ways, just like these women,” Ngwenya said.
According to Ngwenya, the initiative highlights the importance of cotton and natural fibres, as well as the need to revive Zimbabwe’s cotton industry. Due to the decline of the local cotton industry, fabrics are now being sourced from China. It also showcases textile printing, featuring local textile printers such as Sayprint and Chjaa Zimbabwe.
The fashion collection was showcased at the Creative DNA accelerator programme and a music-fashion event hosted in Harare on March 8 during the second edition of the Creative Economy Week, jointly organised by the British Council and the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation.
