Home | The Architecture of Sleep

AN INTRODUCTION

The headrests … were intimate everyday objects intended for use. Although highly valued, they were not regarded as ‘precious’ and were subject to the wear and tear of daily life. The repeated nightly connection, where owners rested their heads on these objects, created an unassailable organic depth of association between object and person. The recurring contact between skin, hair and wood gave rise to pieces with edges softened by loving use and a deep, lustrous patina.

Karel Nel, in Headrests of Southern Africa – The Architecture of Sleep (P 29)

Headrests from Southern Africa – The Architecture of Sleep ( 5 Continents ) has been printed and will be available internationally from Spring/Autumn 2022. A substantial and richly illustrated publication of 440 pages, featuring 438 headrests from the KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini and Limpopo regions of southern Africa, the book offers detailed historical knowledge specific to each region, and unique personal information collected from many of the original owners or carvers of the headrests.

Alongside the images of the headrests themselves are 135 photographic portraits of those owners – and on occasion, the carvers – of these beautiful sculptural objects.

The headrests are brought to life with wide-ranging insights into their creation, ownership, use and significance. In marked contrast to practices that classify cultural artefacts and people according to ‘tribal, groupings, Headrests of Southern Africa: The Architecture of Sleep recognises the individuals who owned and made these items of daily use, revealing the deeply personal relationship between headrest and human being.

Including original contributions by field collectors Bruce Goodall, Mavis Duma and Clive Newman, art historians Karel Nel and Nessa Leibhammer, and collector Frederic Zimer, the book is an important reference for anyone interested in Africa and its material culture, including museum curators, African art collectors and scholars

THE BOOK

24 x 30 cm | Hardcover | 440 pages
Publisher | 5 Continents Editions, Milan

PRE-PUBLICATION SUBSCRIBERS + SPONSORS

1of8

AN INTRODUCTION

Headrests from Southern Africa – The Architecture of Sleep ( 5 Continents ) has been printed and will be available internationally from Spring/Autumn 2022. A substantial and richly illustrated publication of 440 pages, featuring 438 headrests from the KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini and Limpopo regions of southern Africa, the book offers detailed historical knowledge specific to each region, and unique personal information collected from many of the original owners or carvers of the headrests. Alongside the images of the headrests themselves are 135 photographic portraits of those owners – and on occasion, the carvers – of these beautiful sculptural objects. The headrests are brought to life with wide-ranging insights into their creation, ownership, use and significance. In marked contrast to practices that classify cultural artefacts and people according to ‘tribal, groupings, Headrests of Southern Africa: The Architecture of Sleep recognises the individuals who owned and made these items of daily use, revealing the deeply personal relationship between headrest and human being. Including original contributions by field collectors Bruce Goodall, Mavis Duma and Clive Newman, art historians Karel Nel and Nessa Leibhammer, and collector Frederic Zimer, the book is an important reference for anyone interested in Africa and its material culture, including museum curators, African art collectors and scholars.

THE BOOK

24 x 30 cm | Hardcover | 440 pages
Publisher | 5 Continents Editions, Milan

PRE-PUBLICATION SUBSCRIBERS + SPONSORS