Nana Wagner knows the story behind every creation on display at iThemba Crafts Art Gallery in Stellenbosch, where she is in charge of curating the exhibition and hosting workshops that teach unemployed women from nearby townships how to sew.
Nana Wagner is sitting at her desk. She has just noticed two German tourists admiring one of the artworks: A massive piece of material comprised of smaller, intricately patterned squares, covered in multi-coloured hand prints, adorning a white wall at the gallery’s rear.
Nana Wagner (right) describes her working relationship with Anna Kruger (left) as “hilarious”. This is despite the difficulties they face in running Stellenbosch Crafts Alive and iThemba Crafts Art Gallery, Stellenbosch-based social enterprises that empower unemployed women in the community with creative and entrepreneurial skills to create their own artworks and businesses. The two are pictured in front of an artwork displayed in iThemba Gallery called the Mashakane quilt. PHOTO: Téa Bell.
“That’s the Masakhane quilt,” she tells the customers. The quilt was a collaborative effort by Wagner and three young boys who came to the gallery in search of work. The boys were from Kayamandi, an informal settlement on the outskirts of Stellenbosch.
Wagner, the curator of iThemba Crafts Art Gallery, had the idea of stitching together traditional Southern African shweshwe fabric to create an eye-catching art piece that would become the gallery’s focal point.
The fabric was sourced from Stellenbosch Crafts Alive, a non-profit organisation affiliated with iThemba. Stellenbosch Crafts Alive accumulated bits of fabric from a community-upliftment sewing project that they hosted in the rural community of Kylemore some months prior. Rather than discarding the off-cuts, Wagner thought that they should be repurposed to make something new.
To Wagner, the Masakhane quilt is the epitome of “good craft”; it’s honest, sustainable, and a product of community cooperation. And, with over forty years of experience in the arts and culture field, Wagner knows a thing or two about “good craft”.
Nomathemba Ngalo sews waistcoats using squares of traditional Southern African shweshwe fabric. She displays her work at iThemba Crafts Art Gallery in Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Téa Bell.
The road to Stellenbosch
Wagner was born into a family of musicians in Bavaria, Germany in 1943.
“My father was a master weaver and both my brother and mother were very musical. So, I have always been creative,” says Wagner.
After spending a few years in Nuremberg as a cultural officer, Wagner moved to Paris where she worked as a translator of French, German, and English for the United Nations.
“But it was in Berlin where I met my husband: A gorgeous, classical guitarist from Stellenbosch,” Wagner says.
Eventually, the two of them emigrated to Namibia, where Wagner acted as the president of the Namibian Arts Association while her husband taught music at a local school.
“We decided that the climate [in Namibia] wasn’t good for my husband’s health,” says Wagner. “He had chronic lung disease.”
So, in 1979, Wagner and her husband decided to move to Stellenbosch, where she opened a craft art gallery on Church Street.
“I ran the gallery for the next 34 years and hosted both the Stellenbosch Street Festival and the Stellenbosch Classical Music Festival for over 18 years,” she says.
Wagner fell in love with the town’s rich, artistic culture and strong sense of community.
“I care about the community. I’m passionate about it, in fact,” says Wagner.
United by a passion for community
It was this shared passion for community upliftment that laid the foundations for Wagner’s friendship with Anna Kruger, the founder of Stellenbosch Crafts Alive, iThemba Craft Art and Aunty Sophie se Kombuis, a social enterprise café on Dorp Street.
“We were introduced by a mutual friend,” explains Kruger.
Kruger holds a degree in Home Economics and has always been passionate about mentorship and training. She conceptualised building a non-profit local development hub in late 2019 that would equip unemployed women from impoverished communities with the skills to start their own small businesses.
Nobahle Makhatyana is a skilled seamstress who produces her work at Stellenbosch Crafts Alive, a local economic development hub in Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Téa Bell.
At the beginning of 2020, Stellenbosch Crafts Alive and iThemba Craft Art Gallery were born.
Through Stellenbosch Crafts Alive, Wagner provides workshops that teach the women how to sew, embroid, and paint whilst Kruger teaches them entrepreneurial and marketing skills. iThemba Craft Art Gallery provides a space where the creations of Crafts Alive, and other local artists, are displayed and sold to the public.
“What Nana brings in terms of her knowledge and experience is invaluable,” says Kruger.
“And my jokes,” interjects Wagner. “I have an irresistible sense of humour.”
“How would I describe my friendship with Anna? Hilarious – despite the crises we face here,” laughs Wagner.
Moments of creative breakthrough
The 79-year-old Wagner has decided to come into work on a Saturday – as she does on most weekends. She opens up an envelope and spreads a series of black fabric squares embroidered with various animals across one of the tables in Aunty Sophie se Kombuis, which shares its premises with iThemba and Crafts Alive. Phelelwa Bobi reaches for one of the squares and holds it up to her chest. “This one is number one,” she beams.
Phelelwa Bobi works at Stellenbosch Crafts Alive, a local economic development hub that teaches creative and entrepreneurial skills to unemployed women from nearby informal settlements. Bobi’s latest creation, an intricately embroidered map of South Africa, will soon be displayed in iThemba Craft Art Gallery in Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Téa Bell.
Bobi started working at Stellenbosch Crafts Alive in March 2020. When Bobi is not helping out in Aunty Sophie se Kombuis, she partakes in Wagner’s creative workshops.
The square that Bobi holds is the centrepiece of the next artwork that Wagner hopes to display in the iThemba gallery.
When Bobi first started working at Crafts Alive, she struggled to embroider a simple drawing of a bee onto a thin piece of fabric.
“Nana showed her some visual books to inspire her. [Bobi] came back the next week and she’d embroidered – on her own – this detailed map of South Africa!” exclaims Kruger.
“It was just amazing to see the growth. [Bobi] took the initiative to explore and create something that she is proud of,” says Wagner.
Kruger explains that when some of the women from local townships first began working at Stellenbosch Crafts Alive, they were so afraid of making a mistake in their artwork that they were reluctant to even try.
“In the communities that we work with, there is a lack of opportunity, especially when it comes to creative expression,” explains Kruger. “So, there’s this whole thing of right and wrong – even when it comes to art.”
Through the creation of a safe, artistic space, the women of Stellenbosch Crafts Alive are slowly but surely losing their fear of being wrong.
There are moments of “creative breakthrough” when it becomes clear that the women have found their artistic identities. This is what Wagner and Kruger find to be the most rewarding part of their work.
Wagner hopes that Crafts Alive and iThemba will continue to be a sustainable organisation that helps people to grow and gain confidence in their abilities.
“And, hopefully, they’ll be able to pass on the skills that they have learned to other people in their community. I think that’s what life is about: sharing knowledge,” says Wagner.