Marigold’s hand-loomed beaded necklaces are the result of an extraordinary collaboration between Joburg-based artist and sculptor Joni Brenner and women’s cooperative Marigold, based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It was a single commission by Zimbabwe-born Brenner in 2011, for a set of three beaded necklaces of her own that led to the creation of a partnership that has seen hundreds of these intricately beaded strands find their way to South Africa, and across oceans.

Each necklace is a marvel of colour, geometry and masterful even tension, the symmetry of uniformly shaped seed beads (sourced from Czech Republic and Japan) as satisfying to the touch of the wearer as it is to the eye of all those who end up admiring the pieces. New colour combinations and patterning are continually introduced so the pieces are collectible, and inexplicably one necklace demands a companion, and then another.

Brenner, a working artist who has exhibited locally and internationally, and who works as an art historian based at the University of the Witwatersrand, draws inspiration from a variety of sources including Africa's diverse beadwork traditions and the vibrancy of African-patterned cloth such as Ghana's Kente cloth. The women of the Marigold Cooperative experiment freely with colour combinations and variations.

To produce one necklace takes from one to three days of careful and considered labour. In a world of throwaway items Marigold's necklaces are like rare birds, each carrying the imprint of its maker.

Marigold Beads are available from Kim Sacks Gallery in Parkwood, and featured in a collaboration (Sept 2016) with Leopard Frock by Joburg-based fashion designer Marianne Fassler for Friends of JAG (Johannesburg Art Gallery).