Zulu beadwork letters

Also known as Ubuhlalu · love letters

Zulu beadwork is made by threading small glass beads in rows to form triangles, diamonds and bands of strong colour on necklaces, collars and panels. Young people have long exchanged such pieces, and the choice of colours is part of how a piece is read, though the reading differs from one region to another.

Play the preview About this tradition

Zulu beadwork letters: photograph by Yanajin33 — Photo: Yanajin33, CC BY-SA 3.0, source on Wikimedia Commons

Zulu beadwork letters: the game in attract mode

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How to play

Pick a bead colour and a shape from the tray under the panel.
Touch a square to place that shape: it is repeated on the matching squares of the panel, because the design is symmetrical.
Copy the small panel shown above, then press Check.

Rules at a glance

The panel is symmetrical left to right and top to bottom, so each shape you place is copied to its three partners.
Triangles turn to follow the symmetry, so they point toward or away from the centre as on a real panel.
A square counts only when its shape and its colour both match the target; three stars need a nearly perfect copy.

About the tradition

Beadwork is made across KwaZulu-Natal and neighbouring regions of South Africa. The colour schemes differ by area, so the game gives no single meaning to any colour.

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, in the style of the tradition)
Photo: Yanajin33, CC BY-SA 3.0, source on Wikimedia Commons
Text: CC BY-SA 4.0, World Heritage Games.

Sources

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Museum_of_Ethnology,_Osaka_-_

Get the app

Zulu beadwork letters 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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