In this episode, we take up clothing as language—as a material vocabulary that speaks across generations. Guided by community elders and local Makers at the Willowvale Arts Center, we enter a space of listening and learning, where dress becomes a form of respect, relation, and remembrance.

Sitting with the women of the Co-op, we become students in a place of deep knowledge. KuGatyana, we are reminded of isihlonipho—the ways of reverence—and how isinxibo (Xhosa dress) is never merely decorative. It is a practice of embodiment, a gesture of alignment with ancestral order.

Umbhaco emerges here not simply as attire, but as a mode of carrying history: a tactile archive of womanhood, kinship, and protocol. We ask: When do we wear umbhaco? What makes it different from isishweshwe? And how do these garments mediate belonging, identity, and transformation?

“Umbhaco akusengubo nje. Ngumqamelo wolwazi—ubambe imithetho, iintsomi, imisebenzi yamadlozi.”

CLOSING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Narrating Voices

Mr Mangaliso Jafta

Azola Krweqe

Ms Nobuhle James

Mrs Nokhaya Jilingisa

Mama Phakani

Zizo Ntukushe

Visual & Video Contributors

Azola Krweqe

Sibabalwe Makeleni

Community Contributors

The James Family – ooXaba

Mrs Kutazwa James

Mrs Nokugcina James (special thanks for the recording of umsebenzi kaMnu. Luphumlo James)

Mrs Ludidi

Ms Phumla James

Ms Nobuhle James

Willowvale Makers Co-op

Kholiswa Magidi

Theko Theo Yinindwa

Philiswa Matutu

Nwabisa Mahlaleshushu

Miranda Siwlabeni

Youth Participants

Zintle Bonakele

Vuyokazi Mncono

Lethu Jilingisi

Nokubonga Hawu

Lisakhanya Poni

Yolande Tskane

Liyabona Ntshobodwana

Buyiswa Beauty Nduwe

Community yakuGatyana

Cebisa Magoqoza

Mzukisi Nketshu

Thando Madwantsi

Thobile Tsutsu

Sikelela Thobigunya

Neliswa Bambintala

Miranda Sihlangu

And the broader community at large

Special thanks to:

Azola Krweqe

Lukhanyo Muluse

Locations Referenced

Willowvale Arts Center, kuGatyane

James Family Home – Elukhanyisweni, eQumbu, eMdeni

Mr & Mrs James’ Residence – Highbury, Umtata

James Residence – Walmer Road Lodge, Beacon Bay, East London

Ngumla Family Home – eGcibala, Tsomo

Mpintsha Family Home – Nkanga, Willowvale

Buffalo City Municipality

Production Team

Executive Producer: Bongani Tau

Curator & Editor: Siviwe James

Content Advisor: Sihle Sogaula

Graphic Design: 2DOTS Space Agency

Video & Sound Editing: Siviwe James

Text: Siviwe James

Xhosa Language Advisor: Ms Nobuhle James

Digital Archiving Support

Art Meets App

Institutional Support

Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts and Culture

UN/FOLDING_RE/FOLDING_FOLDED: Imiphindo kwaXhosa © 2023 Created and produced by Siviwe James (James-Laurie) With support from the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) and Creative Nestlings Foundation, under the New Narratives Programme (2023).

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International