The Nala family are pre-eminent in Zulu culture in the creation of ceramics. The Nala's reveal elegant examples of a pottery tradition that stretches back to the beginning of the 1900’s. Starting with Ntombi Khumalo the skills and knowledge required to produce these delicate pots has been passed down, mother to daughter, through three generations of Nala women, and are currently finding expression in the works of Thembile Nala.

Thembile explained how she began experimenting with clay as a child, making toys from the bits of clay that her mother, the famous Nesta Nala, discarded as she created her pots. Later, at the age of thirteen, Thembile under her mother’s careful guidance began her training as a potter in earnest.

These deceptively fragile looking pots belie their practical heritage. Designed originally to be used for the brewing and serving of traditional Zulu beer, they have evolved through the generations to fulfil a more decorative role. Thembile in particular, while still retaining the integrity of the Zulu pot making traditions that have made her and her family so famous, has also added more contemporary shapes as well as intricate and modern decorative designs to her repertoire.

Thembile Nala’s pots have been exhibited extensively and examples from the Nala family can be found in major museums worldwide.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2024
'Compressing Materiality', EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa

2022
'Ancestors and Dreams', Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

2020
'Re-Imagining Clay In South Africa In The 21st Century', EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa