Handicraft - Import export

The quirky charm of Maid in Africa lies in its distinctly modern and rural African narrative. More than anything the everyday images, such as shebeens, bottles of Marmite and cans of sardines, carefully reproduced on the bright, hand-painted fabrics are accompanied by amusing and humorous African sayings, a tongue-in-cheek twist added to the regularity of contemporary African life. Andrew and Micha Weir started Maid in Africa in 2006 after their domestic worker, Priscilla, was diagnosed with HIV. They were forced to watch helplessly as her condition worsened even though Priscilla expressed a desire to continue being productive. Micha Weir showed Priscilla how to silk-screen paint and produce hand-painted fabrics. Tragically, Priscilla succumbed to AIDS in 2007 but her passing inspired the Weirs to spread a wonderful, celebratory message, including immortalising Priscilla’s smiling image as ‘Maidonna’ on a variety of surfaces and a range of beautiful.

Kabo Craft is a magnet for creative minds and untrained hands. Minds that draw inspiration from Namibia’s stark environment; its cultures, its spaces of a vast nature and the vibrant cities. (Hands, that shape arts and design out of every material available, from mopane wood and desert sand, to newspaper and beer cans). It is this passion for the land, aesthetics and the people, which you can see in the product that are truly Namibian ranging from papier mache, metal and woodwork, printed fabrics and toys. Located on Krumhuk farm near Windhoek, all products are hand-made by Namibians trained under talented creative eye of Katrin Bockmuhl.

In 2003, American citizen Valerie Garber started an NGO, Work of Our Hands, in Five Rand Kamp, an informal settlement of Okahandja, Namibia. It currently supports 13 formerly disadvantaged women with skills transfer and craft education. The women are taught the art of making jewellery using wire and beads; and also crocheting wire to make attractive, durable adornments for the wrist and the neckline, in colours and hues compatible with the most sophisticated of wardrobes. The ceramic beads used to make the jewellery, earrings in particular, are also handmade by the women of the project making every item a unique piece of art. Each handmade item of jewellery is accompanied by the name and a small photograph of its creator, adding dimension to the beautiful items. The income generated by sales of the jewellery benefits the disadvantaged women involved in the project, to purchase raw materials, pay rents and sales staff.

Sara Basson, from Leonardville, produces useful, decorative pieces which are a variety of bead-edged doilies, dolls, placemats and mobiles. Sara was taught by her mother, which served to guide her entire life and its course to date were shaped by her skills at crafting. After moving to Windhoek, she initially sold her handicraft on the streets of the city before applying successfully for a stall at the Namibia Craft Centre. The curios and crafts at her stall reflect Sara Basson’s distinctly rural Namibian aesthetics, almost untouched by her urban surroundings, an innate sense of proportion (small dolls) and an endearing quest for quality as shown by the pristine finishing on her handmade doilies and knitted items. Sara vows to continue producing handmade craft until the day she dies because she enjoys working with her hands. Each item at Saras Sara’n, the name of her stall, is handmade and entirely unique; the singular manifestation of one brave, rural Namibian woman’s inspiration.

Petra Naruses is the creative mind behind a range of wired, beaded and recycled light-fittings, lampshades, mobiles and decorative craft for the home. Using recycled material such as beer-bottle tops, caps, wire, bicycle tyres, makalani shells and old zinc sheets, Petra creates a remarkable variety of popular lampshades and light-fittings. Combining rural Namibian colour palettes (earthy browns, rusty reds, sandy tans) with bright, shiny wire-mesh or dulled rusted wire, lends an almost otherworldly ‘look and feel’ to the mobiles and light-fittings. The handmade light-fittings in particular are versatile enough to stylishly compliment the interiors of both chic urban and elegant, rural farmsteads. The natural materials (acacia seeds, old zinc, pips, pods, and driftwood) combined in the making of the mobiles, a welcome addition to any home, betray an artistically-oriented patterned organisation.

For the past twenty years, the Omba Trust has worked closely with the Ju/Hoansi community in Namibia to foster a sustainable development model to integrate the rare skills of the Ju/Hoansi into the mainstream economy. The Ju/Hoansi is a San tribal community in rural Namibia, confined in large part to but a small section of their previous hunter-food-gathering landscape. With the guidance and support of Omba Arts Trust, community members fashion beautifully intricate jewellery from ostrich egg shells and create very rare pieces of art, often used as inspiration for a unique range of fabric prints also available from the Trust. In addition, Omba has for the longest time engaged skilled and talented basket weavers from various parts of Namibia to produce a range of decorative and highly sought-after baskets; a standard feature in most Namibian homes representing an abstraction of symbols relating to wealth and fertility, in particular.

Miracle Arts & Crafts is a relatively small stall in the Namibia Crafts Centre but what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for with a resplendent and truly amazing variety of small to medium sized handicrafts from every imaginable corner of Namibia. The woman behind this ‘tiny shopping mall’ of crafts is Elisabeth Hangara, a crafter herself. Elisabeth has a generous, curious and creative spirit which manifests itself in the depth of the range of crafts in the stall. Everything and anything you can imagine from ear adornments, bangles, postcards, greeting cards, handmade paper, Namibian flags and key-rings, scarves to hand-embroidered cushion covers, placemats, ceramics, wire craft, wood craft…the list is endless. She so thoroughly immerses visitors to her stall in the variety of craft products available in Namibia.

Morris Baba found hope in handicraft. It started as a hobby first and grew into something more. When he came to Namibia, he started on the street and made wire and beaded animals and art pieces. After really battling, he was offered a spot at the Craft Centre. Now he has improved the quality of this products and is able to support his family in Namibian and Zimbabwe from sales at the Craft Centre. His skill is self-taught. ‘When I was young, I was inspired by a man who used to do carvings. I started to make some bicycles and then I went on to make elephants and geckos.’ Morris produces a variety of recycled animals, toys, decorations, large welded metal animals and many more. One of the most popular animals, the warthog, has been bought by many visitors and shipped to Europe and Americas. Morris makes sure that he has a great variety of products, and guarantees that there is something for everyone.

Johanna Shilongo produces all the clothing sold at her stall. The distinctive striped material used for the traditional dresses worn by Namibia’s Owambo women, represent the three different tribes – the Kwanyama, Ndonga and Ngandjera. Traditional the pink colour was obtained by grinding stone, and the fabric is known as Ondelela. Johanna also buys traditional Owambo baskets and wooden utensils and animals from the north of Namibia. Anyone desiring to have a taste of Owambo customs and tradition in their homes, must visit Ondjaba stall.

Mewiliko Gift Shop opened for business in 1999 at the Namibia Craft Centre, and stocks a unique range and collection of affordable and useful gifts. The shop is owned and managed by Anna Hango, who takes a keen interest in the needs of her customers. On the shelves of Mewiliko are handmade products made almost entirely of natural materials and ingredients found in Namibia and a wide variety of unique wooden products from Kenya. Rare souvenirs made of bone, horns, ostrich shell and a range of cosmetics such as soaps, bath oils, body lotions and lip balm made with locally sourced natural oils. Anna Hango’s inspiration for her selection of gifts is the variety of high-quality, attractive craft items produced all over Namibia and she particularly favours ancient Namibian motifs, like the ‘White Lady’ rock painting in the Brandberg Mountain, north-western Namibia, which dates back 2 000 years.

The name ‘Limbandungila’ means ‘walk slowly’ in Oshiwambo, an indigenous language of northern Namibia and owner, Ottilie Nghiitwikwa, is a connoisseur of hand-carved wooden crafts from north and north-eastern Namibia. Limbandungila was established in 1997 and stocks beautifully hand-carved wooden masks, paintings in relief, ceremonial masks and wildlife figurines, including traditional Namibian items such as bowls, cups and woven harvest baskets, predominantly from cultural groups in northern Namibia, selected with great care for her customers by Nghiitwikwa. Her enterprise and initiative supports several rural producers and craftsmen, necessitating Ottilie Nghiitwikwa travel regularly to northern Namibia, scouting for new hand-carved wooden items. Her winning selections and choices of wooden craft has made Limbandungila an enduring supplier of quality products, known for its traditional, authentic wooden artefacts of Namibian origin.