“Love Letter” Necklace

Bold, graphic text in white stands out against a black background on the pendant of this beaded necklace. The phrase “mina ngabelwa” in the Zulu language roughly translates to “I was assigned.” The individual words mina, nga, and belwa may be interpreted as “I,” “may,” and “fight,” respectively.

Although the identities and context surrounding this necklace’s maker and recipient were not recorded, either message implies strong opposition to the situation. For instance, she may have fought an assigned marriage. If, instead, the text was made for the late 20th-century art market for foreign travelers in South Africa, it might communicate resistance to that country’s systemic apartheid, or racial segregation that disenfranchised the non-white majority, in a bold declaration of self-realization and autonomy.