The story cloths of South Africa
In the late 1980s, Dr Elbé Coetsee began teaching a group of local women in rural Limpopo the handicraft skills she had developed since childhood. What started as informal upskilling grew into the Mogalakwena Craft Art Development Foundation, officially registered in 1994. While Elbé has trained countless women over the years, those employed by Mogalakwena today are part of the original group, exemplifying the atelier’s broader, long-term goal to empower women and the local economy. Mogalakwena’s core output is ornate handmade homeware, such as linen napkins embroidered with indigenous flora and fauna, or safari story cushions that function as picture books, transcending language and literacy.
Alongside its own collections, the atelier regularly works on commissions, collaborating with designers, artists and architects from South Africa and abroad. The artisans are skilled across multiple craft disciplines, handling every stage of production in-house, including embroidery, weaving, knitting and beading. Beyond its functional pieces, Mogalakwena has created an ongoing archive of more than 500 large embroidered story cloths, housed at Mogalakwena Gallery and digitally archived at the University of Pretoria for research purposes. These panels document the region’s oral culture, providing unique visual records of everyday life as well as traditions, recipes, dances and folklore.
Where
Mogalakwena Craft Art
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