In the southernmost region of the African continent, women have been piecing together materials—textile construction techniques commonly used in quilting— to create bed coverings throughout the history of the San and Khoi peoples. From the late seventeenth century through the early nineteenth century, an influx of Dutch, French, Indian, and British military personnel, traders, miners, and missionaries came to South Africa, bringing with them their own cultural traditions, including making and using quilts. Today, the making of quilts in South Africa is flourishing.
Quilt Arts of South Africa stitches together the history, production, and significance of quilt making from its earliest appearance in the continent's southernmost region to the twenty-first century. With input from curators, linguists, art historians, activist artists, and folklorists, this book presents disparate yet connected inquiries into a wide-ranging history of the quilt. These perspectives connect a rich expressive art to place, showing how the quilting traditions in South Africa together reflect a unique cultural history and natural landscape.
Itself pieced together from diverse voices, Quilt Arts of South Africa offers glimpses into the histories and meanings of quilting in South Africa.
Contributions by:
Coral Bijoux,
Elsa Brits,
Jeni Couzyn,
Menán du Plessis
Edited by:
Marsha MacDowell
Imprint: Indiana University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 279mm,
Width: 216mm,
Weight: 1.270kg
ISBN: 9780253072580
ISBN 10: 0253072581
Pages: 250
Publication Date: 27 May 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface Acknowledgments The Border: Piecing Together a History of Quilts and Related Textiles in South Africa, by Marsha MacDowell 1. Traditional bedding and blanket-cloaks of the indigenous people of South Africa, by Menán du Plessis 2. South African Kappies, by Vicky Heunis 3. The Heritage Quilt: The Anglo-Boer War Women's History Quilt, by Vicky Heunis 4. The Boer War Quilt: Discovering History Through Studying a Textile, by Michael Walwyn 5. Isishweshwe: A Blueprint Fabric in Southern Africa, by Juliette Leeb-du Toit 6. Potchefstroom: A Regional Center of South African Quilt History, by Miems Lamprecht 7. The South African Quilters' Guild, by Elsa Brits 8. Fibreworks: A South African Textile Artist Organization, by Jeanette Gilks 9. Zamani Quilters of Soweto, by Marsha MacDowell 10. A Lone Star in Africa, by Dawn Pavitt 11. The Empowering Stitch, by Sandra Kriel 12. Amazwi Abesifazane—Voices of Women: A Textile History Collection, by Coral Bijoux 13. South Africa, AIDS, and Quilts, by Marsha MacDowell 14. The Keiskamma Guernica, by Brenda Schmahmann 15. The Tapestries of the Bushman Heritage Museum, Nieu Bethesda, by Jeni Couzyn and artists from the Bushman Heritage Museum, Nieu Bethesda 16. Defining a South African Quilt Aesthetic, by Marsha MacDowell 17. Common Ground, Building Bridges: The Women of Color Quilters Network and South African Quilt Artists, by Marsha MacDowell, Carolyn Mazloomi, and Patricia Turner 18. The Quilt Index: South African Quilt History, Preservation, and Access, by Marsha MacDowell Bibliography Notes on Contributors Index
Marsha MacDowell is Professor of Art, Art History, and Design at Michigan State University, Curator at the Michigan State University Museum, and Director of the Quilt Index (www.quiltindex.org). She has authored many publications on traditional material culture and quiltmaking, including Quilts and Health.
Reviews for Quilt Arts of South Africa: Threaded Legacies
""An engaging rediscovery of a key art form and practice, much of which is shrouded in, and grounded in, South Africa's political background. This is another way of rewriting history through the art practices of primarily women, in this case.""—Kate Wells, author of Fabric Dyeing and Printing ""This is a well-researched publication that innovatively focuses on different areas of South African history through quilt and textile art produced by local artists. A great read and a must-have for one's book collection.""—Nelisiwe Mkhize, Director, William Humphreys Art Gallery ""Already an eminent scholar of quilting and quilt making in several regional and ethnic communities in the United States, Dr. Marsha MacDowell has assembled a groundbreaking volume that offers never-before-seen information and perspectives about the quilt-making history, traditions, aesthetics, cultures, and artists of South Africa. Readers will find insights about the diversity and richness of South African quilting practices written by an international group of multidisciplinary scholars. As an artist scholar, it is a volume to which I will return many times.""—Diana Baird N'Diaye, Creative Director, African American Craft Alliance
