{"product_id":"wired-contemporary-zulu-telephone-wire-baskets-9798890181008","title":"Wired: Contemporary Zulu Telephone Wire Baskets","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe long-awaited reprint of the sold-out first edition, \u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e is the first book to document the development of wire weaving in African art.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith over 270 magnificent full-color images, \u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e showcases the works of the most renowned contemporary weavers. The decorative use of wire has long been a feature of African artwork and, with advancements in telecommunications, a new type of wire--multi-colored, plastic-coated copper wire, referred to as telephone wire-- became available. In the 1960s, Zulu night watchmen started weaving scraps of this wire around their traditional sticks. The practice became popular among Zulu communities, and today, there is great innovation and creativity in the use of this medium. Artists have produced goods ranging from soft wire bowls and plates to glass bottle covers, tea sets, isikhetho (beer strainers), and pots, all created in a wide variety of colors and complex patterns.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first major exhibition showcasing the spectacular art of telephone-wire weaving in any North American museum opens at the Museum of International Folk Art in NYC on November 17, 2024. \u003ci\u003eiNgqikithi yokuPhica \/ Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa\u003c\/i\u003e was developed in consultation with artists, community members, and other experts with deep connections to wire-weaving communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Produced in collaboration with the Museum, scholars, and a committee of Indigenous Knowledge Experts, \u003ci\u003eWeaving Meanings \u003c\/i\u003eshares the histories of wire as an artistic medium in South Africa, from its use as a marker of social status in the 19th-century the early introduction of colorful telephone wire as a recycled material, to the dazzling styles weavers create for local and international markets today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eExhibition schedule: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMuseum of International Folk Art (MOIFA), Santa Fe, NM\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e(November 17, 2024-November 27, 2025)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Arment\u003c\/b\u003e had travelled extensively in southern Africa when he bought his first telephone- wire basket in the early 1990s. He and his husband, \u003cb\u003e Jim Rimelspach\u003c\/b\u003e, developed a passion for collecting baskets and since then have established the premier collection of baskets by contemporary wire weavers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Radius Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51213092880658,"sku":"9798890181008","price":43.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b1fea776-a27c-468e-b826-98e961fc9ee3.jpg?v=1745359135","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/wired-contemporary-zulu-telephone-wire-baskets-9798890181008","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}