10/06/2026
This evolving research project investigates the relationship between narrative jewellery, cultural identity,
materiality, and personal memory through the use of goat horn as a primary source of inspiration.
Narrative jewellery functions as a form of contemporary jewellery practice that communicates stories,
experiences, and symbolic meanings through material, form, and adornment. Unlike conventional
jewellery, which is often valued for its decorative or economic function, narrative jewellery creates
opportunities for personal and cultural storytelling, allowing jewellery objects to function as carriers of
memory, identity, and social meaning.
The conceptual foundation of this project emerges from experiences growing up within a Zulu cultural
environment where ancestral rituals and ceremonial practices formed an important part of family life.
During these ceremonies, the goat horn was preserved and positioned above the entrance to the
ancestral room (umsamo), where it functioned as a symbolic object associated with protection, spirituality,
and ancestral presence. These experiences informed an interest in the symbolic significance of the goat
horn and its potential application within contemporary jewellery practice.
Through practice-led research, visual analysis, material experimentation, and theoretical investigation, the
project explores how goat horn can be transformed into contemporary narrative jewellery while retaining
its cultural and spiritual associations.
The natural markings, textures, and organic forms of the horn communicate ideas of growth, resilience,
memory, transformation, and cultural continuity. The project is situated within contemporary jewellery
discourse and material culture studies, drawing on theories that emphasize the relationship between
maker, material, and cultural context in constructing meaning.
The research is further informed by Marxist, Late-Marxist, postmodern, and postcolonial perspectives,
which challenge conventional notions of value and preciousness in jewellery. By employing horn, a
culturally significant yet non-precious material, the project foregrounds social, cultural, and symbolic value
over economic worth. Semiotic and visual analyses demonstrate how horn functions as both material and
metaphor, communicating themes of ancestry, identity, spirituality, protection, and resilie
Ultimately, this research demonstrates how jewellery can operate beyond adornment as a site of
storytelling, cultural preservation, and critical reflection. Through the transformation of goat horn into
wearable objects, the project highlights the intersection of personal experience, cultural memory, material
agency, and contemporary design practice, positioning jewellery as a powerful medium for
communicating personal and collective historie
