Weaver at

I am Nokwakha Dyani, born on the 29th November 1974, in the quaint village of Thafa Lofefe (Grace Hills/Hills of Grace) in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. I was born into a large family of five siblings, with very proud parents. Our parents always wanted the best for us and our father being the one most encouraging in getting educated. This came from a man who had limited access to education in his youth, and saw how his children being educated would secure themselves a better future.

My early days of schooling were attended at Egqityana Primary School, within my village. I then later went to Mathumba High School in a nearby village. I progressed well through my high school years and was an avid athlete. I later fell pregnant in the then standard 9, nowadays grade 11, with my first child. Prior to giving birth I got married to my supportive husband whom I am still with. We now have four beautiful children, namely; Asakhe (16), Azola (13), Aphiwe (9) and a beautiful baby girl, Lelihle (16 months). My husband and I moved down to the Western Cape, this in search of a better future for us and our children. We then found ourselves building a home in Khayelitsha’s Town Two.

I was introduced to the art of weaving in 2003, at The Kraal Gallery’s (TKG) training centre in Lynedoch, situated on the outskirts of Stellenbosch. I very much enjoyed my learning experience there, particularly the manner in which we were allowed freedom of expression in our rug weaving. We brought to life our own stories, those of the past and the future, factual and of fantasies. One would one day enjoy our creations, but even more we enjoyed the escapes to destinations unknown they took us to. Our growth in weaving allowed for an introduction to a finer art of weaving, that being tapestry weaving. In this I have found pleasure of recreating fine artwork into beautiful fibre art pieces. I now, can proudly place myself amongst the better weavers that have come through TKG’s training programme, post 2000. I am excited with my personal progression towards becoming a refined world class fibre-artist. This keeps me going everyday, coming back to give it another go at being the best I can be...

Please see more of Nokwakha’s work at the KRAAL Gallery, Stellenbosch.