Uluso: Against the Dark Night Sky

Among the Zulu- and Xhosa-speaking peoples of South Africa, beadwork outfits are a religious art form worn on ceremonial occasions, when the ancestors—the focus of traditional belief—are invoked, usually with music, dancing, and communal sharing of a sacrificial meal.

In isiZulu, uluso is also a metaphor for “against the dark night sky.” This image of contrast has complex associations. It evokes the stars as points of light, like beads embroidered on dark cloth, and it applies to outstanding human virtues, but its root is in sacrifice for the ancestors. Mzwhake Mbuli, South Africa’s “People’s Poet,” descended from Zulu and Xhosa roots, expresses the role of beadwork with another striking image of heavenly contrast: Beadwork connects the living to their ancestors like lightning rends the dark sky. Together, the works seen here and in the adjacent exhibition, Ubuhle Women: Beadwork and the Art of Independence, highlight the outstanding brilliance of beads and their ability to reflect light as key qualities of this sacred South African art form.

Spotlight is dedicated to special projects that show how the Loeb is expanding beyond its traditional practices of research, display, and interpretation. These undertakings reflect a commitment to broaden, and amplify, the voices represented in the museum setting, and to ensure that our programs and practices place the Loeb in conversation with our communities.

This Spotlight display was curated by Lisa Brittan and Gary van Wyk of Axis Gallery. Support for Spotlight is provided by Mary Ellen Weisl Rudolph ’61, P ’98 and James N. Rudolph P ’98, with additional funding from the Evelyn B. Metzger Exhibition Fund. There are works that appeared in this exhibition that were loans to the Loeb and therefore do not appear on this website.