Budulala reaches for the sky
Maureen Odubeng | Friday March 21, 2014 13:02
The 22-year-old from Shoshong describes herself as an all rounder when it comes to art, and her creativity shows through her work.
The young woman is currently involved in the art of crafts, and is an upcoming poet. Budulala tells Arts & Culture that she has always loved art excitedly explaining that she started reciting poems when she was in primary school.
“When I was in standard five, I recited a poem about my primary school, Kgamane Memorial School, in Shosong,” she said.
The poem according to Budulala, was well received, giving her the motivation to continue reciting poems. Budulala, who lights up with excitement when talking about her poems, said she has mostly been reciting poetry at Kgotla gatherings, in schools, and at weddings.
She said she has received support and inspiration from local poet Berry Heart. Budulala quickly offers to recite a poem for Arts & Culture, titled Fatherless Child. Holding her stinkane (traditional music instrument), which she uses during her performances, Budulala, starts her heartfelt poem capturing the pain of a child who grows up without a father.
The touching words make it easy for the poet to show emotions. The poem dedicated to children who have never known their fathers, is a cry from a child longing for a fatherly figure in her life.
“I wish one day I could wake up in my mother’s house,
Hearing the voice of a man roaring in my mother’s house
Roaring saying baby girl how was your night
Baby girl come give daddy a hug
I wish one day I could hear the gate of my mother being opened
Hearing the footsteps of a man in my mother’s house
Hearing a man knocking on my mother’s door
A man saying baby come and open for daddy…”
Budulala immediately explains that she does not restrict herself when penning her poems. She explains that her inspiration comes from issues affecting the society, adding that some of the poems are celebratory in nature, while others may be about the hardships that people go through.
“Some of my poems are praise poems, celebrating either an individual or a place, and others are just poems which capture social ills affecting the society,” she said.
Interestingly, Budulala, said she joined the crafts industry by default, explaining that she started by using beads to make costumes she wears for her performances.
“I make all the attires I use for my performances, and that is how I started with beadwork,” she said.
People used to admire my beadwork, and that gave me an idea to start making necklaces and earrings. I also make other accessories like curtain holders, using glass, wood and pearl beads. She also uses small and large stones for her breathtaking accessories guaranteed to interest individuals with varying taste.
She makes large and small sets comprising necklaces and earrings, as she is mindful that clients have different styles, be it in size or colour combination.
“Some clients prefer small earrings and necklaces, while for some the bigger the better. There are also clients who prefer bright colours, while others prefer earth colours,” she said.
When making earring she does not restrict herself to beads and stones as she also uses German print (leteisi) for some of her earrings. Budulala also beads headbands, popularly associated with Xhosa and Venda cultures.
Her creativity does not end with making earrings and necklaces as she also makes handbags, using palm tree branches (mokolwane).
“I also make handbags using mokolwane,” she said.
Budulala is also involved in the art of making pots (dinkgwana) for decoration, and jewellery boxes, using recycled newspapers and ash (molora wa leiso).
She also makes German print handbags.
“I soak newspapers in water for a few days. Then I remove them and remove excess water from the soaked newspaper, and combine it with ash and start moulding. Then I leave it to dry. Finally I paint it,” she said.