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Bongukufa Alfred Ntuli
South Africa
Year(s) attended: 2010, 2011
Basket Weaving (Telephone Wire and Hardwire)
Born in 1953 in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Alfred was taught to weave by his next-door neighbor, master telephone-wire weaver Bheki Dlamini.
Zulu telephone-wire weaving evolved from traditional hand woven grass beer pot covers (tzinkamba). In the 1950s, weavers innovated the disc-like shapes by making baskets from telephone wire instead of grass.
Alfred creates containers whose form mimics traditional beer pots, embellishing his extraordinary wire vessels with designs and colors that reflect the traditional beadwork of the Maphumulo area of KwaZulu-Natal.
