The Dreams of Africa chair, created by beaders supported by the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust (Hact), has achieved international acclaim for its beauty, design and the powerful stories portrayed by the beadwork.
Now a book has been published, documenting the journey of the chair around the country and its encounters with South Africans – from ordinary folk to high-fliers and celebrities.
Paula Thomson, craft co-ordinator at the Hact, said it had been an incredible journey. “We took the chair to many areas in the country and we would put it down – on the beach, at a market, in a school – and invited people to sit in it and share their dreams,” she said.
“They had dreams of clean water, a roof over their heads, education for their children, watching their children grow and being able to buy bread – similar dreams to the women who had done the beadwork.
“It broke down barriers and opened up doors of communication.
“People randomly spoke to others as they shared their dreams. I had no idea the chair would take us on such an incredible journey, discovering first hand the diversity and beauty of the people of this land.”
From humble beginnings, the chair became a superstar. It was shown at the Design Indaba in Cape Town in 2011 where it won The Most Beautiful Object in South Africa award and it has also been to New York twice, as well as to Holland and Germany.
Its travels and its beauty are documented in the pages of the book, called Dreams of Africa Chair – the Woza Moya Crafters at the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, KwaZulu-Natal.
Matthew Willman took most of the pictures and managed the publishing, while Peter Upfold helped initiate the project. Other people who came on board included Dominic Ronzo (New York pictures), Claudia Krumhoff (co-ordination) and the Woza Moya staff. The book was published with Lotto funding.
The Hact was started 22 years ago and its Woza Moya income-generation project has uplifted and empowered women in the Valley of a Thousand Hills area.
“HIV takes away hope and Woza Moya has enabled crafters impacted by HIV/Aids to earn an income, transforming lives through the sale of their work, through the Woza Moya craft hub,” says Thomson. “Many are the same crafters whose dreams have been told in the beaded patchwork covering of the chair.”
There is also symbolism in the transformation of the chair – from being broken and destined for the scrap heap, it was hoisted out and given a second chance, transformed into an award-winning object of beauty.
In her foreword, Thomson says the chair has become something of a metaphor for the Trust.
“We have seen people come in sick and broken and many times we have thought that this or that person would not make it and somehow they got a second chance… just as the chair got a second chance.”
* Proceeds from the sale of Dreams of Africa Chair – the Woza Moya Crafters, at the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, KwaZulu-Natal, which sells at R250, will go towards the building fund and the creation of a training centre and training programme that will benefit more grass-roots crafters and their children.
The books are on sale, at R250, at the Woza Moya shop of the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, Old Main road, Hillcrest. They can be delivered by courier anywhere in the country for R50.