DepartmentAfrica

Basket depicting ingoma dance

NameBasket

Artist Vincent Sithole

CultureZulu

Date2003

Place madeSOUTH AFRICA, Africa

Mediumtelephone wire

Credit LineMuseum of International Folk Art, Gift of David Arment and Jim Rimelspach, David Arment Southern African Collection, IFAF Collection, FA.2024.12.214.

Object numberFA.2024.12.214

DescriptionIn this large basket, we see three male dancers wearing leopard-print cloth. The dancers are performing ingoma, a dance still popular at community celebrations where groups and individuals challenge one another, joke, and develop rapport with their age grade group. A black beer pot is placed on the ground in front of the dancers. Five distinct groups of houses, separated by trees and birds, give us the sense of a larger community coming together through an umsebenzi—an isiZulu word that describes a variety of community gatherings.