Kenya ✓ Verified craft Beaded jewellery
Maasai beadwork
Glass-bead collars, bracelets and belts whose colours and patterns tell age, status and community.
Glass beadsLeather Beading
Maasai women thread tiny glass beads onto wire and leather to make collars, headdresses and bracelets. Each colour has a meaning: red for bravery, blue for the sky and water, green for the land. Beadwork marks life stages and is worn at ceremonies.
Connections to other crafts
2 parallels · written by the consortium Maasai beadwork Adire textile
Thematic parallel · share: Patterns as a visual language of identity
In both crafts colours and patterns can carry meanings and mark social identity.
Maasai beadwork Kano leatherwork
Thematic parallel · share: Leather as a base material
Both use leather as a support for decoration and everyday objects.
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