New York Times - Roberta Smith

January 18, 2002

"This stunning exhibition provides an in-depth, museum-quality look at the beadwork and textiles of the Xhosa-speaking peoples."

Anyone intrigued by the sprinkling of African beadwork in the ''Extreme Beauty'' exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will want to see ''Dance in Light.'' This stunning exhibition provides an in-depth, museum-quality look at the beadwork and textiles of the Xhosa-speaking peoples of South Africa, which includes not only the Xhosa themselves, but also the Thembu, Mfengu, Mpondo, Xesibe and Bhaca.

Carved masks and figures were never part of the Xhosa's religious ceremonies. Instead they concentrated on light-refracting beads made originally from shells, metal and polished stone, and used for both decorative and spiritual purposes. When the importing of European glass beads began in the 18th century, their beadwork traditions exploded; they continued into the 1950's and 60's, until traditionalism became associated with the oppression of the apartheid regime. Throughout much of the 20th century, South Africa was the world's leading importer of beads.

The exhibition's objects, which are sometimes densely draped on mannequins, include ceremonial anklets, collars, veils and skirts; bead-covered diviners' switches; and pipes and tobacco pouches (smoking was one way of invoking spirits), as well as the long sacrificial necklaces called isdanga. There are also secular objects of adornment, like headbands, girdles, belts, cummerbunds and square beaded pendants called ''keepers of the heart.'' Ingenious use was often made of mass-produced European goods, especially thin leather belts and rubber pipe seals from coal mines.

The exhibition demonstrates that elaborate vocabularies of symbols, geometric patterns, color combinations and decorative details distinguish the work of the various Xhosa-speaking people from one another. The Mfengu favored red, black, white and turquoise and a short, dense beaded fringe. The Thembu, who emphasized pink, black and royal and navy blue, avoided white and specialized in broad, striped lattice-work collars.

Especially beautiful are several Mfengu skirts made from cotton trade blankets and decorated with grids and rows of beads, buttons and appliquŽd fabric. These textiles draw the maximum effect from each decorative morsel, an economy that reflects only partly the high price of beads, which were traded as currency until the early 20th century.

A great deal more material -- another show or two -- can be viewed in the gallery's extensive flat drawers.