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Welcome to the Number One websiteNumber One is the only collective in South Africa of letter carvers. We design and carve letters as well as logos and drawings in different kinds of stone. Letter carving is a handicraft that needs a long and intense training. We were trained from January 2008 till September 2009 by the well-known Belgian letter carver Maud Bekaert ( www.lettersinsteen.be ) and graphic designer Hilde Wintein ( www.ou-vert.be ). We take commissions (tombstones, name plates, housenumbers, birthday and wedding presents,...) and make free artistic work.
With the kind support of Provincie West-Vlaanderen Belgium & Breadline Africa South-Africa
Come and visit us:
Castle of Good Hope
Darling street
125440 Cape Town
T 00054 58442157
E info@lettercarvers.com
WorkHousenumbers Housenumbers in stone are everlasting. You can choose the stone, the size and a style that fits the best with your house or company. 
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Name plates and logos Personalize the name or logo of your company in stone or offer a stone with a name as a birthday gift. 
Back to top Artwork Poetry eternalised in stone in your garden or house. 
Back to top CarversPhinias Chirubvu sculptor, letter carver, teacherBorn on February 17th 1976 in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. I did my primary and secondary education in Mufakose township, a high-density suburb south of Harare.
I have always been in love with art since I was a kid and I started carving stones when I was twelve years old. In the beginning I didn't get any support from my parents because they wanted me to be an accountant. Later they realized that no matter how hard they tried, they were not succeeding to change me because I was an artist at heart. Before I moved to Cape Town I have worked with different groups of people who are very talented and creative.
In 2004 I worked with Raphael Mavudzi producing sculptures at the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens and Boschendal wine estate.
In 2008 I participated in workshops and an exhibition in Charleston South Carolina USA (The Future is on the Table), and was the resident artist at the Gibbes Museum of Art and Wilmont Jefferson Fraser elementary school.
My inspiration comes from the natural environment and the societies around me. I am currently teaching letter carving at the Castle of Good Hope art studio and stone carving in Khayelitsha to the South African youth. | |  |
Back to top Ley Mboramwe letter carver, fine artist, teacherI was born in 1978 in Kinshasa, DRC and obtained my BA (FA) from the Académie des Beaux-Arts, University of Kinshasa. I came to South Africa in June 2006 and have participated in many group exhibitions in South Africa and abroad. I won the Sanlam Vuleka Competition 2008 in the category of best painting in oil, watercolour and acrylic. I am a visual artist performer exploring and expressing myself through painting and lettering. My interest in letters is seen through letter carving in stone but also exploring letters in my painting and on canvas.
The joy of my work comes with spontaneity and I use different mediums and styles. My approach begins with an idea and without sketching or planning, just like a praise singer or a poet whose words form spontaneously. I explore the idea with whatever medium draws my attention. | |  |
Back to top Mcebisi Qampi | I was born in Cape Town at the Mowbray Maternity Hospital on the 20th December 1988. I live in Site B in Khayelitsha. I went to school at Joe Slovo Comprehensive School. I live with my two sisters. I was trained in carving by Maud Bekaert and now my teachers are Phinias and Ley. We work at the oldest building in Cape Town: the Castle. | | |
Back to top Brian Nowalaza | I am 18 years old and live in Khayelitsha. I attended Bulumko Senior Secondary School. In February 2009 I became interested in letter carving in stone, and in calligraphy. I work with the Number One collective with Phinias and Ley as my guides. I want to make perfect work. I want to do well and make something of my life. I work with the collective at the Castle from Monday till Friday. | | |
Back to top Nomfudi Thunyiswa | I am 18 years old and live in Khayelitsha where I completed my matric at Vista High School. I love art and I was born with a gift to learn things quickly and do it well. I love design and wanted to be a fashion designer but will also be able to make and design in stone. I believe I have a bright future ahead of me. I am the only woman in the collective. | | |
Back to top Asanda Funda | I was born in the Eastern cape on 4th October 1989 but I currently live in Khayelitsha. I completed my matric at Kwamfundo High School in 2008 and I am attending the lettering and carving workshops in the Castle of Good Hope. I am also studying Business Computing at Achievers College. My goal is to be a successful artist. | | |
Back to top Christopher Siyengu | I was born in the Eastern Cape on the 3rd January 1985 but currently live in Khayelithsa in Cape Town. I studied at False Bay College getting a N3 in Business Studies. I live with my mother and 3 sisters. Carving in stone has become a big thing of importance in my life. I was taught by a Belgian lady called Maud Bekaert and now am part of the collective at the Castle of Good Hope. | | |
Back to top NewsFirst internet order September 30, 2009Filip Strobbe (director of Brugge Plus, the cultural centre of Bruges, Belgium) ordered a piece of art from Number One and went to Cape Town to collect his commission.
'I ordered the text 'If equal love can not be, let the more loving one be me' through the internet. I gave the measurements to be sure it would fit in the place where I wanted it be. Ley Mboramwe mailed me his design of the letters and by the time I arrived in Cape Town, Assanda carved it in beautiful slate.The result exceeded my expectations. The quality of both the design and execution was superb.' 
Back to top Letter carving in South Africa September 28, 2009The tools a letter carver needs are chisels, a hammer and safety glasses. The qualities a letter carver needs are patience, concentration, a good eye for beauty and a firm hand.
More than 40 students started the training 'letter carving' in stone with Belgian letter carver Maud Bekaert and graphic designer Hilde Wintein and only 7 students graduate in Octobre 2009. They are the first ones in South Africa that can proudly call themselve 'letter carver'. 
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