Ju/’hoan and !Kung San women still use the same millennia-old technique handed down from their ancestors to make ostrich eggshell beads. The beads were crafted into beautiful pieces of body adornment by their hunter-gatherer forebears to wear and exchange as gifts.

Today the shell is sustainably sourced from commercial hatcheries. The shell shards are sterilised after the ostrich chicks have hatched.

Each piece acquires its own distinctive patina from the wearer – the more its worn, the more you it becomes!