Ndebele geometric wall painting

Also known as Ndebele house painting

Ndebele women of southern Africa paint the walls of their homes with bold geometric designs: flat fields of bright colour held inside thick black outlines, laid out freehand with straight edges and a balance that mirrors left to right and top to bottom.

Play the preview About this tradition

Ndebele geometric wall painting: photograph by Angela Abel — Photo: Angela Abel, CC BY 4.0, source on Wikimedia Commons

Ndebele geometric wall painting: the game in attract mode

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How to play

Pick a colour and a shape from the strip under the wall: solid fields, triangles, diamonds, bands, checks and arches.
Tap a square to paint it: the mirror squares across the wall are painted at the same time.
Copy the small design above the wall, then press Check.

Rules at a glance

The wall is mirrored left to right and top to bottom, so every design is balanced.
A square scores only when its shape and its colour both match the design.
Painting the same shape and colour again, or using the eraser, clears the square.
Three stars need a near-perfect copy; undo and clear are free.

About the tradition

House painting is a mark of identity for Ndebele communities in South Africa. Women have passed the craft from mother to daughter, moving from earth pigments to bright commercial paints while keeping its black outlines and bold symmetry.

Origins

A living tradition passed from person to person; it is not tied to a single dated origin. It belongs to the cultural world of Africa: Southern Africa.

Credits

Pattern design: World Heritage Games (original)
Photo: Angela Abel, CC BY 4.0, source on Wikimedia Commons
Text: CC BY-SA 4.0, World Heritage Games.

Sources

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ndebele_Architecture.jpg

Get the app

Ndebele geometric wall painting is one of 20 paper and paint crafts in the Paper & Paint of the World app for iPhone, iPad and Android. Submitted to the App Store and Google Play; in review. Store links appear here the day it goes live. One app, many traditions, no account needed.

See all 20 paper and paint crafts in the app

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