Celebrating heritage

South African-born Paula Goodburn has woven in elements of South African design and heritage into her English country home. She tells Katie Pike about her most treasured pieces, and how she displays them…

It was my mum who got me started on the Zulu beadwork. She gave me a couple of necklaces for my birthday about 30 years ago. She sewed them onto velvet and framed them. I asked her why I wasn’t allowed to wear them and she replied by saying that they’re around 120 years old! I’m really into ceremonial beadwork, all sourced from South Africa with the help of my mum who has collected these incredible pieces, from necklaces and anklets to blanket pins. Most are framed to preserve them, but I also have Ethiopian staffs propped up and beer pot lids nailed to the wall.

Displayed in a box on the coffee table are a couple of c20th-century terracotta ‘passport heads’. Each head is unique to its owner and was used to identify individuals when travelling between villages. They’re from Benin, West Africa and are difficult to find. I would love to have a whole wall displaying them. I’m also thinking about nailing my telephone wire baskets (made by Zulus from bare and plastic-coated wires) to the wall.

I like our home to have a story – a narrative. For things in it to have a real sense of belonging and history; to tell the story of our family. We all gather things along our path in life, even if subconsciously. I think it’s sad to squirrel them away so, if I can’t display something on a table, I think about framing it and putting it on a wall. It’s a different way of displaying treasures that I’ve collated over the years. I have some Zulu wooden spoons, which will probably end up on the wall at some point – either framed or attached straight onto the wall. I use vertical space as much as I can. You can be experimental in your own home.

I’m constantly working on the balance between South African and English influences in our home. Because I’m fourth generation South African, on both sides of my family, and Damian is from Northumberland, our house is half English and half South African. With the interior it sits

– or I hope it sits – between the two: it’s not overtly tribal or African and not stronger on the English side either. The two need to sing with each other. It’s about telling the story of the two of us: it’s not my house, it’s our home.

FROM TOP Paula’s terracotta Passport Heads were a gift from a friend; Paula’s jacket is from a Hill Tribe just north of Chiang Mai. The wallpaper is by Ardmore, a South African design company.