Of Ostrich Eggshell Jewelry and Woven Baskets

Representing artists from the Kavango, Zambezi, Otjuzunjupa, Kunene, Omaheke, Oshana, and Kunene regions of Namibia, the Omba Arts Trust provides rural artisans with a means of income and creative expression. For decades, Namibia has been struck by economic hardship and making art has long been a crucial source of income for its inhabitants. Omba’s members produce a range of strikingly innovative and astonishingly beautiful items, from baskets to jewelry.

Omba specializes in four types of baskets: Kavango, Khwe, string, and black and white baskets. Kavango baskets were traditionally used for harvesting pearl millet, but today are suitable for any number of practical tasks. Khwe baskets, identified by their handle, were used by Khwe San hunter-gatherers to collect wild fruit. String baskets are an innovation that emanates from traditional beer strainers that are seldom made in the Kavango region today. Black and white baskets are a new innovation, though techniques and basic materials remain the same, the basket weavers developed a wholly new, sustainable black dye, which they use to add contrast and visual intrigue to items that are both immaculately woven and eye-catchingly contemporary.

Omba’s artisans produce a type of jewelry that will almost certainly be unfamiliar to most Western audiences: necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and more using beads made of ostrich eggshells. Ostrich eggshell beads are a 72,000-year-old tradition still made the same way today. The shards of hatched eggshells “are chipped into small round shapes. Holes are then drilled into the center of the shape using traditional techniques as well as more innovative equipment. The sharp end of a stick is placed in the middle of the bead, whilst the stick is rubbed between the palms of two hands - causing a rolling motion that allows the pointed edge to drill a hole into the ostrich eggshell bead. More recently some San are using solar-powered drills using old car parts, this is the invention of an elderly Ju/'hoan man. The ostrich eggshell beads are heated to get different shades from light brown to black.”

Other statement jewelry items are made of recycled PVC pipe that Omba’s artisans transform into bracelets. Popular throughout northern Namibia, the bracelets feature high-contrast geometric designs of inlaid pigment. In yet another material, intricately designed strands of beads make beautiful jewelry. Omba’s members also stitch beads onto black fabric to make decorative textiles. Glass beads have been worn, traded, and given as gifts by Namibian people for hundreds of years. Whatever their creations, the women of Omba Arts Trust are dedicated to innovation, artistic expression, and producing both functional and beautiful artwork of the highest caliber.