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“…you can see photographs of the work…but when you actually see the piece in reality, it is so beautiful that you actually can’t believe that it’s real.”
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- BEVERLEY GIBSON (CO-FOUNDER)
which has always been to challenge the perception of rural women and traditional skills worldwide. By being recognized as international artists, these women have showcased rural women as the dignified, gifted, dedicated artists that they are. Preaching that each woman is just as deserving of the opportunity to use her gifts and strengths to attain recognition and success, Ubuhle has created an unyielding platform that will go on to deeply challenge and eventually change the way and manner in which African women are perceived. .
discipline, and love, the artists of Ubuhle have strived to push past these claims, and strive as a group of women working together. Ubuhle Beads cannot be overemphasized. Besides her talent and proficiency in the art which have been polished and refined over time, Induna’s warm and loving personality has also played a huge role in Ubuhle’s achievements. Another contributing factor to Ubuhle Beads' success is the passion for the art, which is evident in everyone within the organization. In an interview with TrooRa, Co-founder Beverley Gibson expressed genuine fervor while speaking about the pieces produced by Ubuhle’s artists. Coming from a place of deep talent, skill, and dexterity, and serving as a means of expression, the beauty of works done by
Ubuhle’s artists tends to seep past the human exterior and reverberate throughout the body until it touches the soul. As is a fundamental law of our universe, Ubuhle Beads and its artists have already begun to reap the fruits of their labor. The pair was recently Recognized in Washington DC at the opening of the exhibition “Ubuhle Women: Beadwork and the Art of Independence,” as international, individual artists in the medium of beading by Dr. Janet Cole. Other high points in the careers of these outstanding women were meeting and interacting with high-profile individuals like the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu and late ex-president Nelson Mandela. Despite their successes in the art scene, both as an organization and as individual artists, Ubuhle Beads and its artists have not lost focus of their main goal,
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Ubuhle Beads' mission of empowering African women is widely recognized. Both of its co-founders disliked the prevailing narrative at the time, which portrayed Black women as objects of sympathy and pity. Ubuhle Beads has consistently challenged and disproved this misconception by providing African women with the opportunity to showcase their strength and resilience. to display their strength gallantly. Another erroneous narrative that plagues South Africa is the belief that division and strife would naturally exist in any relationship between a Black woman and a White woman. Originating in a country that was recently ravaged by the inhumane effects of apartheid, this narrative was one with particularly deep roots. However, with proficiency, fortitude,
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