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Mapula
Embroidery

Mapula Embroidery Project

One of the most important community art projects in South Africa is the Mapula Embroidery Project in the Winterveld. In addition to providing an income to women who are frequently the sole breadwinners in their families, Mapula embroideries couple high levels of technical and visual artistry with topics that speak eloquently of public histories and women’s personal experiences. Dazzling in colour and inventive in design, the embroideries engage compellingly with social and political issues that have shaped the lives of their makers.

 1995  Mapula works are included in Embroidered Impressions, a group exhibition in Pretoria Art Museum curated by Janétje van der Merwe and Dirkie Offringa.
 1996  

Mapula works are included in Embroidered Impressions, a group exhibition curated by Karin Skawran, Janétje van der Merwe, and Klaus Pfeiffer and held on the island of Naxos, Greece, under the auspices of the Naxos Catholic Cultural Centre.

 1998  Mapula and Kaross Workers, an embroidery project in Limpopo, are selected to exhibit at the Klein Karoo Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn.
 1998  Mapula works are included in Women’s Voice, a group exhibition held in  the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, under the patronage of  HE Lindiwe Mabuza, the South African Ambassador in Germany, and sponsored by Daimler Benz. Karin Lijnes and David Koloane, the curators of the exhibition, facilitate Mapula’s inclusion.
 1998  Mapula cloths are used as backdrops at the ambassadorial reception for the South African Soccer team, Bafana Bafana, in Vichy, France.
 1998  Sherley Minyuku wins a merit award of R1 000 for her embroidered cloth, Golden Jaguar, at the FNB Vita Craft Now Exhibition organized by the Craft Council of South Africa.
 1999  Dorcas Ngobeni and Martha Metlae represent Mapula at the thirty-third annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washngton DC.
 1999  Mapula works are included in a group exhibition curated by Cecile Loedolff at the ABSA Gallery in Johannesburg.
 2000  Mapula wins the Gold Award of R10 000 at the FNB Vita Craft Now Millennium Awards Exhibition organized by the Craft Council of South Africa.
 2000  Mapula participates in Cloth Workers Coalition, a group exhibition at the African Window, Pretoria, curated by Karin Lijnes and Antoinette du Plessis.
 2000  Mapula works are included in Material Matters, a group exhibition curated by Brenda Schmahmann that starts at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown and proceeds to the Durban Art Gallery as well as the King George VI Art Gallery in Port Elizabeth. In 2001, Material Matters is shown at the South African National Gallery in Cape Town and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.  
 2001  The Alliance Française hosts exhibitions of works by Mapula and Kaross Workers at their centres in Durban, Pretoria, Gaborone, Cape Town, Mitchell’s Plain, Johannesburg and Mbabane. Jean Bourdain, Director of Alliance Française in Pretoria, coordinates the exhibitions.
 2001  A work by Christina Mabasa is included in Innovative Threads, a group exhibition at Nova Constantia, Cape Town, curated by Margie Garratt.
 2001  Mapula works are included in Women of Tshwane, a group exhibition curated by Lydia de Waal at the University of Stellenbosch.
 2001  Mapula is selected to present work at the Oxo Tower during the Celebrate South Africa festivities, 26 – 28 May, in London. Rossina Maepa is invited by the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in South Africa to represent the project in London.
 2001  America photographer Roland Freeman visits the Mapula project and orders cloths for various international exhibitions.
 2001  The Mapula Embroidery Project receives the SIGBI Best Practice award from Soroptomists International.
 2002  Works by Sherley Minyuku and Pinky Resenga are included in Innovative Threads, a group exhibition at Nova Constantia, Cape Town, curated by Margie Garratt. The exhibition proceeds to the United Kingdom and Ireland.
 2002  Zanele Mbeki, wife of the President of South Africa, purchases sixty-five       cloths as gifts for the partners of visiting heads of state during the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Mapula also participates in Imbizu Crafts, a group exhibition curated by the Department of Arts and Culture and the Craft Council of South Africa at the Ubuntu Village.
 2002  Mapula works are selected for the FNB Vita Craft Now Exhibition curated by the Craft Council of South Africa.
 2003  Happy Mary Mahlatsi wins award at the Women’s Edge competition in Washington DC.
 2003  Mapula participates in Women’s Day, a group exhibition at Gallery on the Square in Sandton.
 2004  Works by Selinah Makwana and Pinky Resenga are included in Innovative Threads at Nova Constantia, Cape Town. The exhibition, curated by Margie Garret, travels to Durban before proceeding to Japan and New Zealand.
 2004  Works by Rossinah Maepa are included in Through the Looking Glass, curated by Brenda Schmahmann, which begins at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown and proceeds to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum in Port Elizabeth. In 2005, it is shown at the Durban Art Gallery and the Standard Bank Art Gallery in Johannesburg.
 2004  A cloth by Selinah Makwana is chosen by Brenda Schmahmann for Voice Overs: Wits Writings Exploring African Artworks, an exhibition curated by Anitra Nettleton, Julia Charlton and Fiona Rnkin-Smith that begins its run at the Standard Bank Art Gallery in Johannesburg and proceeds to the South African National Gallery in Cape Town and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum in Port Elizabeth. 
 2004 Mapula works are bought by Museum Bochum in Germany for the group exhibition New Identities – Contemporary Art from South Africa. The exhibition travels to the Pretoria Art Museum in 2005.
 2004 Mapula wins the Silver Award at the FNB Vita Craft Now Exhibition curated by the Craft Council of South Africa.
 2005  Mapula works are included in the group exhibition Reconciliation curated by Elfriede Dreyer for the Arts and Reconciliation Festival at the University of Pretoria.
 2005  Mapula and MonkeyBiz exhibit at Gallery on the Square, Sandton.
 2005  Mapula participates in Crusaid’s Art Aid 2005 exhibition at the Royal College of Art, London, where Mapula works are purchased and then auctioned for funds for people living with HIV/AIDS. Rossinah Maepa’s Funeral of Madiba’s Son is auctioned on the night of the Gala Dinner and fetches £ 2 100-00.
 2005  Mapula works are included in a group exhibition Soul of Africa, curated by Frieda Hattingh and Manda Bester, for the Development Bank of Southern Africa in partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture.                                      

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