Inside an Ndebele Home
click to enlarge
Ndebele
Society
Part I II
Ndebele Home...Before the Paint
click to enlarge
|
Inside an Ndebele Home click to enlarge |
Ndebele
|
Ndebele Home...Before the Paint click to enlarge |
| The Ndzundza Ndebele are best known for
their spectacular homes. Starting as simple grass huts, their
homes evolved into the most distinctive in all of South Africa.
Ndebele women painstakingly hand-paint elaborate designs on the inside
and outside of their homes; a unique expression of personal
creativity.
Painting an entire home can take months of work. All images are drawn free-hand; the only tools they use are paint brushes. Traditionally, the women used natural dyes. In modern times, latex paints prove a more reliable, less expensive alternative. |
|
|
|
The walls of Ndebele homes are made of a
mixture of dung, mud, and clay. The resulting mixture is strong
and well-insulated. They use thatch roofs supported with sturdy
wood beams.
The floors are decorated with patterns drawn in cattle dung. The floor on the left is "fresh" in more ways than one! |
|
|
|
The earliest Ndebele homes were simple grass huts (left). In their turbulent early history, they needed to be able to pack up and move quickly. These huts served that purpose As they began to build an empire, the Ndebele adopted a more permanent dwelling (right). |
|
All Ndebele homes--traditional and modern--are located within a fenced compound. This compound will house the patriarch of the family, his wives and his children. If his sons have married, they will live with the father until the son acquires enough wealth (in terms of livestock and wives) to move out on his own. Additional relatives will live with the family as needed.
Ndebele
Society
Part I II
