Ingwenya Wire Arts

Many years ago, tons of tobacco leaves were hung to dry in the farm’s row of drying sheds. Then the owners gave up on tobacco farming. Over the years some of the roofs collapsed and weeds grew through the floor. Now the provincial government has bought the farm – with its stunning views over a lush Lowveld valley to a faraway line of bush-covered hills.

Thanks to the government, members of the arts centre work – and live – on the farm rent-free. They make baskets and pottery. Here, others even look after a dozen or so street children from Nelspruit. And, in one dimply-lit, windowless drying shed, Enock Ngwenya makes wire furniture.

Wire cars and bicycles

“I started playing around with wire when I was eight,” says Enock. “When I was grown up, I used to make wire bicycles and wire cars. I’d sell these in Nelspruit. I started this business, Ingwenya Wire Arts & Craft in 1994. Then someone asked me to make baskets. A local hotel gave me some drawings of flowers and I made them up for them.”

Always looking for the next big thing, at some stage Enock had the idea of making a chair out of wire. It worked, and he made some more. An Australian buyer saw the chairs and ordered 10. Then 20. Then 40. Charging R450 a chair then, Enock had his products trucked to Durban, from where they were shipped to Australia. Weeks after they left Ingwenya Wire Arts & Crafts , wire chairs from Mpumalanga were adorning posh showrooms in Melbourne and Sydney.

Thanks to organisations such as TEP and the department of trade and industry, Enock has been able to market his unique products on the world stage. He has been to exhibitions in Germany, France, Qatar, Vietnam and Burkina Faso. “TEP have been very helpful with marketing, materials and making it possible for me to attend exhibitions,” says Enock, 42. “Now I’m hoping that they can help me with training.”

All the tricks of the trade

Enock reckons that he knows “all the tricks of wire” but says these tricks need to be learnt. He desperately wants help with training so that he can offer employment in his community and at the same time grow his business. “I need to train people because quality is the most important thing,” says Enock. “At one time I used to employ 10 people but they weren’t working to the right quality standard, and so I lost orders. If the quality is not 100 percent, you lose business.”

One armchair can take a week to produce – and consume the better part of a kilometre or more of the fencing wire Enock buys from local hardware stores. The material costs alone are about R1, 300 and he sells the chair for about R2, 500. A wire coffee table he sells for R1, 200, and that can take three days to make. Just how long it’s going to take him – one day – to build his dream project; a whole four-room guesthouse made entirely out of wire, Enock hasn’t yet calculated.

Wire furniture is a time-consuming craft. Without help, Enock sleeps in a room next to his workshop. He only sees his wife and five children on weekends. Often he works until midnight or later. “But it’s good here. It’s quiet. We artists need to keep our minds fresh.”