Explore the stories held within Zulu beadwork and textiles alongside your own memories and experiences and contribute to an evolving artwork that brings together personal and museum histories.
From photography and film to screen printing and poetry writing, these sessions offer the chance to respond creatively to what you discover in the museum and its collections. Your work will then form part of a special community exhibition opening in October 2026.
Explore the stories held within Zulu beadwork and textiles alongside your own memories and experiences. Through guided writing exercises and collective making, you are invited to contribute to a large-scale collaborative weaving installation inspired by traditions of textile-making, storytelling and connection.
Using fabrics, ribbons, threads and written fragments, you’ll weave personal reflections, memories, hopes and messages into an evolving communal artwork. Inspired by the museum’s textile and beadwork collections, the installation will grow throughout the exhibition period, becoming a living archive of visitor voices.
Contributions can be as simple as a single word, a short poem, a memory or a symbolic gesture woven into the structure.
Together, these individual responses will create a collective piece that reflects the many stories, connections and experiences shared through the project.
Wednesday 26 August
Drop in from 11am to 2pm (times subject to change)
All drop-ins are included with standard admission to the museum, house and gardens. Simple book tickets for 26 August to take part.
Nomakhwezi is a South African–German interdisciplinary artist and facilitator working across theatre, poetry, and storytelling. Her work has been platformed at major cultural institutions including the Barbican Centre, Southbank Centre, British Academy, Westminster Abbey, and the National Arts Festival (where she received an Ovation Award in 2019).
Rooted in the Call and Response tradition of South African storytelling that raised her, Nomakhwezi’s practice explores how performance can foster dialogue and connection across borders of language, culture and geography. She creates in English shaped by Zulu, Xhosa, and German, drawing on inheritance and “in-betweenity” as a generative space for exploring belonging and memory.
Whether you want to join a guided tour, explore the museum at your own pace, or just wander and see what you find, you can plan your day your way. Discover something new with each visit.
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