At the end of last summer, I took a road trip to the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library for the sole purpose of seeing this exhibit, “Ubuhle Women: Beadwork and the Art of Independence.” From the Ubhule website: “What started as a humble project, using traditional skills to create independence and give rural artists hope, has evolved into the artists of Ubuhle stunning the World with their mesmerizing fine art.”

The exhibit showcases a form of bead art, the ndwango (cloth), developed by a community of women living and working together in rural South Africa. Established in 1999, the community uses beading traditions as a way of achieving financial independence. Their work is sold through local galleries, or has been kept as memorials for some of their sisters. They have suffered the loss of five of their artists through complications from HIV/AIDS. Ubuhle means beauty.