An exhibition that documents ifa crafted, a significant project undertaken by the KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts (KZNSA) in 2025. Developed in response to the FirstRand Foundation’s call to identify rural KZN beneficiaries, the KZNSA devised a scalable, repeatable model designed to support makers across the province. The vision was to build a programme that nurtures creativity, strengthens economic sustainability, and honours the heritage embedded in local craft practices.

The project centred on three interconnected areas: design, sales and heritage research. This exhibition brings these strands together, offering insight into the methodologies that guided the work and presenting the outcomes of each.

KwaZulu has a long history of umsebenzi wezandla (skilled handiwork), a term we extend to mean ‘thinking with one’s hands’. The KZNSA Gallery has long supported crafters across the province, serving as both a revenue stream and an exhibition platform. Building on this mandate, and with the support of the FirstRand Foundation, the Gallery commissioned a community of practitioners to produce a multi-modal body of work supported by documentary and photographic materials, as well as a reflective research component.

The project intentionally challenges the binary between ‘traditional’ and ‘contemporary’, rejecting the notion that heritage exists in the shadow of the modern. Instead, the works move fluidly across art, craft and design, dissolving linear distinctions between past and present and embracing the cyclical understanding of time held within Zulu worldviews.

Visitors will encounter the project’s dedicated sales platform, the rich heritage research produced by ArtsResearchLab (ARL), and a collection of innovative, high-end artefacts that reflects the skill and imagination of the participating makers. The accompanying exhibition introduces the ifa crafted project to the public, presenting