Weaver and Teacher at
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My name is Funiswa. I was born in 1975 into the family of the Mathabelas in the village of Nkunzimbini (meaning “two bulls” in Xhosa) from the town of Lusikisiki in the former Transkei. I come from a family of five with myself being bang smack in the middle, the third to say so. The name Funiswa being of a bit of a poetic phrase which means “the one in search” which is what I am supposed to be - in search of what is good in life… I grew up as the only child in the family because one of my elder sisters passed away and the other got married. This meant that I had to take up the chores that would traditionally be seen as boys’ eg: I had to tend to the family’s herds. Like many of the people in my surroundings we (my family) lived under very poor conditions. We went through our hardships and at times we never had food on the table. Being able to have a fresh set of clothes was a luxury that I did not enjoy a lot while I was growing up. Life was harder than it is now but I still hold many fond memories of my growing up. One thing I regret about that stage of my life would be not going to school, which was without much of an option, because the money to buy uniform, books and school fees was never available and my time was always spent with the family possessions - which would be the herds. This continued until very late into my teenage life – until I was 18. I then met my husband, who after seeing him from 1991 till 1996, when we were also blessed with a beautiful baby boy in 1994. In 1996 we got married. In 1998 I moved down to Cape Town where my husband and I setup a home in Khayelitsha. We now still reside in that same place we lived in then. The main reason of our moving down to Cape Town would be to have my handicapped son closer to the specialists that are to this day helping him. The specialists got me in touch with NGO’s that would later help in making it easier. After some time of meeting different people I worked at Philani where I encountered weaving for the first time. They evaluated my son and the family’s situation and saw it fit to train me for a job so as to be able to support my family. This all happened in 1998 when my husband and I also got married, officially. I then went on to work and further my weaving ability at the Cape Tapestry Weavers (The Kraal Gallery studio at Spier) and received further training from Nazeema Solomons, who has been a great mentor and since then have never have looked back… Please see more of Funiswa’s work at the KRAAL Gallery, Stellenbosch. Some “specialist retailers” will also carry selected weaves. |
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