We continue our look at first-time attendees to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Mireille Delismé from Haiti makes sequined vodou flags or ‘drapo’. After losing her job in a dress factory that closed down, she learned to make the flags from her cousin, Yolande Ceauston.

But as she explains, the story of how she had the idea of making drapo is a little more involved than that.

‘One night when I was sleeping, a lwa (spirit) came to me in my dream. . . The next day, I told my father, who was a Vodou priest, about the dream that I had.  After I described to him what had happened in my dream, he drew, from my description, a picture.  This picture became my sequin design for my first flag and it is in my dreams that most of my inspiration for my sequin design comes.

“Later, I had two more dreams of different Iwas that came to me.  The third Iwa that came delivered a very important message to me.  The message said that I did not have to work in a factory, but that I could learn to work for myself and earn for my family . . . I had begun my life as an independent artist in the Vodou tradition.’

Today, Mireille runs a workshop and has hired eight people to assist her in her artwork.  With her earnings, she supports her daughters, sending them to school to get a good education.

She also supports her sisters, aunts, brother, mother and friends in the wake of last year’s earthquake which killed one of her aunts and one of her sisters.

About Vodou Sequin Flags

Vodou sequin flags or ‘drapo’ are generally intended to honor and invoke deities in the Voudon religion that’s widely practiced throughout Haiti.  The motifs found on the drapo represent specific deities or liturgical objects used in Vodou ceremonies.

Traditionally, the drapo represents spirituality and is used for guidance, wisdom and healing and the community relies on it to interpret life’s meaning.  Her brother, who inherited the tradition of Vodou priesthood, often uses Mireille’s flags in rituals and ceremonies and since her father has passed, has helped her interpret her dreams.

Arts of Survival Exhibition

As well attending the Market for the first time, Mireille and her work will be featured in the new exhibition that opens at the Museum of International Folk Art on Sunday July 3rd (she will also be attending the opening herself). The Arts of Survival: ҬFolk Expression in the Face of Natural Disaster explores how folk artists have helped their communities recover from four recent natural disasters: the Haitian Earthquake; Hurricane Katrina on the U.S. Gulf Coast; floods in Pakistan; and the volcanic eruption of Mt. Merapi in Indonesia.

Exhibition curator Dr. Suzanne Seriff said; ‘The Arts of Survival provides a window to the many ways contemporary folk artists use what they know best to respond to natural disaster with vision, perseverance, dignity and imagination-even in the midst of political infighting, infrastructural log jams, and environmental after affects. Through this experience, they learn that the most fundamental power is the indomitable spirit of mankind.’

Donate now to sponsor Mireille Delismé at the 2011 Market and help support Haiti’s recovery

We continue our look at first-time attendees to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Pastora Asuncion Gutierrez Reyes and Violeta Vasquez Gutierrez are part of Vida Nueva, a cooperative of 15 Zapotec women from Teotitlan del Valle, an indigenous Mexican community in Oaxaca, Mexico with centuries of weaving history.

About the Cooperative

Historically, only men were permitted to weave, but in the last 55 years women have also begun to share in this rich heritage.

Despite their numerous creative, social and political contributions, it can still be difficult for women to gain respect and recognition in this part of Mexico.

Therefore, in 1996, women from Teotitlan del Valle formed Vida Nueva (“New Life”) as a weaving cooperative comprised only of women. The organization’s aims are to create economic opportunities for women, serve the community, and preserve the members’ Zapotec heritage.

Through their cooperative, the women pool their resources, generate income and serve their community through a variety of projects including ecological stoves to reduce smoke inhalation from cooking over wood fires, toys for children, trash bins and public messages about caring for the environment.

They also provide food baskets for elderly persons living on their own in the community, plant trees and creating a park for the community, and build temascal lodges for healing purposes.

The cooperative has shared its work in museums, art cooperatives and galleries in the US, Spain and France.

About the Weaving

Zapotec ancestors used to weave on a back strap loom, with the Spanish introducing the larger treadle looms when they came to the area 500.

Today, the weavers use traditional designs inspired by the geometrical designs found on the intricate stone reliefs found at archaeological sites.

The designs represent divinity, strength, protection, and spirituality and touch on the weaver’s appreciation and respect for animals, the environment and all elements of life.

Each member of the cooperative is skilled in all aspects of weaving including processing and dyeing the wool, preparing a variety of natural dyes from different plant and animal materials.  In this village, they are known for their expertise with the red dyes from the Cochineal insect that lives on the prickly pear cactus.

They create more than a dozen different colors and hues from a range of natural sources.

The clothing the weavers make is worn during traditional dances, with the women wearing an enredo (wrap-around style skirt), while their rugs are part of the decor in local homes and workplaces.

Donate now to sponsor Pastora and Violeta at the 2011 Market and help support empowerment for Zapotec women in Mexico.

Videos of the Weavers at Work

Brushing wool:

Using the spinning wheel:

Weaving on the loom:

Explaining one of their designs:

We continue our weekly look at first-time attendees to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Carlos Alberto Cáceres Valladares, a nationally-recognized artist in Cuba, joins us at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market for the first time this year.

Born in 1958 in the town of Cienfuegos, which is located centrally on the south coast of the country, Carlos began painting as a child in elementary school.

His paintings today address the themes of the Yoruba religion – the belief system brought by west African people to the Caribbean, and long-established in Cuba.

Carlos’ paintings include depictions of the Yoruba deities, the Orishas, and also describe the traditions and way of life of the traditional Cuban rural inhabitants known as Guajiros.

Read the rest of this entry »

We continue our weekly look at first-time attendees to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Maria Rengane is from the Tsonga tribe in Winterveldt in the northwest region of South Africa.  She works in a collective of 14 women called the MAPULA (Mother of Rain) Embroidery Project, based at the DWT Nthathe Adult Education Centre, a Catholic Mission of the Sisters of Mercy.  This project has become one of the most important community art projects in South Africa. 

In addition to generating income for economically disadvantaged women, Mapula’s embroideries couple high levels of technical and visual artistry with topics that address pressing social issues as well as women’s personal experiences. 

Maria learned the skill of embroidery from her mother and teaches this art to the others.  The embroidered cloths depict various cultural ceremonies, activities and daily life in their villages.  Each piece takes about 5-10 days to finish. 

She describes her work by saying, ‘It helps people make positive changes in their lives as it brings awareness about consequences of one’s actions.’

She continues, ‘We still operate under difficult conditions because we depend only on what they sell.  We don’t get any help from any organization or their government although we have knocked on a few doors…We love doing this work because it helps us put our minds away from things and we can express ourselves through what we do.’

Her work in the community was inspired by Nkosi Johnson, a South African boy who died in 2001 of AIDS at age 12.  He spoke strongly about the stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS and addressed the International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000.

Maria embroiders Nkosi’s words on all of her AIDS quilts to remind her community and the world that, “you must not be ashamed of speak out telling the community! When you keep quiet you sign your own death warrant.”

Asked if she would ever stop doing her embroidery work, Maria says, “˜Never! This is how I express myself. If I am sad I put it in my embroideries, if I am happy I put it in my embroideries.

“¨”˜I would also like to spend my life helping communities to do things for themselves – that is how you build a strong successful nation’.

Maria and Mapula Embroidery were featured in the Empowering Women exhibit at the Museum of International Folk Art, but she was unable to attend due to last minute visa problems.  She has been invited back to attend the Market in 2011.

Donate now to sponsor Maria Rengane at the 2011 Market and help change lives for women in South Africa.

We continue our weekly look at first-time attendees to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Amalia Gue is a member of the Ixbalamke weaving cooperative based in the Alta Verapaz province of north east Guatemala.

When German settlers arrived in the late nineteenth century, many of the indigenous people of that region (from the Kekchí ethnic group) were forced by the government to give up their land.

Among current Mayan descendents the Kekchi have suffered more than most, and their area is not as developed and visited by tourists as the highlands of the country.

When the death of one of the farmers left the land abandoned, indigenous Kekchi farmers moved back onto the land and in 1979 they obtained legal title to work the property as Cooperativa Agrícola Ixbalanque.



Since then they have been cultivating coffee, corn and cardamom.

In 2004, a group of 25 women from the cooperative set up a weaving project, using their traditional textile skills and techniques.

The members of the cooperative maintain the intricate techniques of gauze weaving and the use of coyuche, or natural brown cotton, that are rapidly disappearing. 

The pikbil (the Kekchi name for this weaving technique) is one of the most intricate weaving techniques and one that was rapidly dying out.

The weavers are inspired by the landscape and the beautiful views of the region – they say the white thread they use is like the white clouds they see in their sky.



There are currently 65 women working in the cooperative, and their aims are to preserve this weaving technique and also help support their families through the sale of their textile products.

Part of the project involves helping children and youths make small looms to work on, so they learn the craft themselves.



Donate now to sponsor Amalia Gue at the 2011 Market and help change lives for women in Guatemala.

We continue our weekly look at first-time attendees to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Chantha Nguon is the co-director of the Stung Treng Women’s Development Centre (SWDC) in Cambodia, which produces silk weavings in traditional Khmer style.

Chantha learned to weave from her mother and grandmother.  She and her husband started SWDC in 2002 with a $3,000 grant from Partner in Progress. Their goal was to provide specialized training in traditional silk weaving and sericulture and to aid in developing life skills for local villagers in the remote Stung Treng Province of northeastern Cambodia. 

The project focuses on developing life skills that help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy for vulnerable people, especially women in the region. Twenty-seven percent of the Cambodian population lives below the national poverty line of less than $1 US dollar per day, while 45% of children under the age of five are underweight. Over 80% of the country’s population lives in rural areas, many with poor access to even very basic services including clean water, education and health facilities.



SWDC began their work in a small house with two traditional wooden weaving looms; today they have 31 looms, seven sewing machines and a dyeing center. The Centre offers over 50 women a livable income, a safe working environment, free lunch, a kindergarten to care for their children, and school sponsorship for students from grade one to nine.

SWDC’s aims include:

• improving standards of living and increasing opportunities through education programs in health and literacy
• offering vocational training in skills that increase employment opportunities and income generation
• providing employment that pays a livable wage, encourages personal development and offers valuable on the job training
• developing appropriate and sustainable programs that improve lives, increase skills and benefit the community.

The silk products SWDC produces under the name Mekong Blue are now regarded as among the finest silk work in Cambodia. The products include handwoven silk scarfs, bedding, clothing and fabric. Mekong Blue was honored with the UNESCO Seal of Excellence in Handicrafts in 2004 and 2005.

Cambodian silks are used for clothing and for wall hangings and canopies inside Buddhist temples. The art of weaving ikat silk has changed very little since the time of Angkor Kings in the 7th century: ikat woven fabric threads are tied or knotted before they are dyed, then woven resulting in a rich multi-layered design



Because of the time, skill, and concentration involved in weaving ikat, Cambodians believe it is imbued with good energy from the weaver.

Donate now to sponsor Chantha Nguon at the 2011 Market and help change lives for women in Cambodia.

For more information on the work of the Stung Treng Women’s Development Centre visit: http://www.mekongblue.com/

We continue our weekly look at first-time attendees to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Rkia Ait El Hasan is a member of the Jamaiate Tifawin cooperative of women weavers from the Ouarzazate Province in southern Morocco.

Formed in 2007 and made up of nearly 90 members, the organization’s name means “˜Association of Light’, to express their optimism and the figurative light that the bright colors and cheerful designs of the carpets bring to the lives of their creators and owners.

Jamaiate Tifawin’s objective is to function as an exchange of information and effort so weavers are not forced to undersell their products. It also encourages and trains young artisans, helping them learn practices that make their efforts more profitable. 



The Association hopes to expand its educational activities to include adult literacy classes, as well as to host workshops on costing, pricing, quality control and other relevant business topics. 

The biggest issue for this group, however, is women’s empowerment, especially for unmarried and divorced women, who have no other means of income and are dependent on their families. Turning their handcraft skills into a viable business gives them more economic stability.

Most wool processing and weaving is done at home so the women are able to meet their domestic obligations: tending to the family’s livestock, minding the children and doing the housework.

A woman working on her own typically produces two or three carpets per year, as well as a few smaller pieces.  When working jointly to produce a carpet, the work is often done at the Association’s workshop, currently housed in two rooms of a building belonging to the village of Anzal. Through the Association, a woman may be involved in the making of 10-14 carpets per year.

The group produces traditional Amazigh (Berber) weaving, drawing on tribal, regional and urban traditions.  They have a long tradition of incorporating designs from the Ribati (royal) style into tribal designs and are famous for their jewel-like colors as well as the many symbolic patterns and formal designs.



The art of weaving in Amazigh culture dates back to nomadic times – a woman’s weaving skill was part of her dowry, as were the carpets, tapestries and blankets she brought to her marriage. The present-day weavers learned from their mothers, grandmothers and aunts and are passing the skills on to their daughters, nieces and granddaughters. These women are preserving this culture through their arts, which also include song, ceremony, traditional dress and facial tattooing.

Donate now to sponsor Rkia Ait El Hasan at the 2011 Market and help change lives of Amazigh women in Morocco.

More information on the Berber peoples of Morocco and elsewhere in North Africa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berber_people

We continue our weekly look at first-time attendees to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Tatiana Mikhailovna, 44, is from the community association Yaoun Yakh, which represents the indigenous Khanty people of Siberia. The Khanty live along the Lugan River and the major tributaries of the Ob River in the western Siberian territory of Khanty-Mansi Autonoumous Okrug-Yugra, which is the size of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico combined.

Tatiana is the mother of five small children with her husband Yuri.  She is also a skilled craftswoman, known for her work with beads, skins and furs, as well as making birchbark boxes. 

The Lugan Khanty number approximately 800 people, with most of them living in the forest in extended family settlements, just as they have for centuries. Each family settlement consists of 2-5 houses on very large family territories, where they hunt, fish and trap to support themselves.

The Khanty still maintain their clan system, and while most Khanty are literate in Russian, they prefer to speak Khanty. Despite the efforts of the Orthodox Church and suppression of native religion under the Soviets, traditional religious belief and ritual still flourish.

Following the collapse of the USSR, in 1995 fifteen Khanty families organized into the community association Yaoun Yakh in order to preserve themselves as a distinct people and adapt to the new socioeconomic situation. Yaoun Yakh means “˜the people (yakh) of the river (yaoun)’.

The aim of the community is to maintain and develop the traditional way of life, economy and culture of the Khanty, including the preservation of the environment that sustains them.

There are now more than 400 members of Yaoun Yakh who make a variety of traditional arts that continue to be used by Khanty families. The work includes baskets made of split cedar roots or birchbark, decorated purses from reindeer fur ornamented with beadwork, and several different types of boots for different seasons.

They also produce three-dimensional puzzles, and dolls which model traditional native costume.

Donate now to sponsor Tatiana Mikhailovna Kelmina at the 2011 Market and help change lives of Khanty people in Russia.

For more information, on Yaoun Yakh and Khanty culture visit: http://www.yaounyakh.ru.

We continue our weekly look at first-time attendees to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Marina Valera Rojas is a member of the Maroti Shobo artisans’ cooperative from Peru.

The cooperative is located in the community of Yarinacocha, a primarily Shipibo community next to the jungle city of Pucallpa. The Shipibo are an indigenous Amazonian ethnic group living in the high forest of eastern Peru.

The Maroti Shobo shop faces the small Yarinachocha plaza, and inside each woman in the cooperative exhibits her work – beautiful embroidered and painted textiles.

Behind the shop is an open space where the women and other Shipibo groups sometimes hold community gatherings. 

The women at Maroti Shobo are committed to their arts and crafts as a means to support their children, and are very interested in developing an international market for their work.

Besides trading handicrafts, Maroti Shobo, founded in 1970, also helps the community with communications, agriculture and sanitation projects. Maroti Shobo has provided a valuable space for discussion of key issues affecting the Shipibo community.

Shipibo Textiles

Shipibo artisans produce excellent quality work including pillowcases, bags and decorative wall hangings. The large pieces are traditionally worn as skirts or to carry babies. Caftans are made for Shipibo men for special occasions.

The artisans learn this art from their mothers. Shipibo women tell how their mothers make a solution from the root of the Piri Piri plant when they are around 8 years old.  The Piri Piri solution is dropped into their eyes during the new moon and after this they are able to see the patterns that are woven into the cloth they create.

The designs represent the world view of the Shipibo people and reflect their reverence for the natural world, and also representing Icaros, healing songs sun by the Shaman during ceremonies.  Each piece is unique.



The textiles are made from white cotton fabric that is dyed with a natural dye process to produce primarily black or sepia tones. The fabric is then embroidered with designs of the Shipibo culture using colorful threads. The fabric may also be painted with a pointed piece of bamboo and natural dyes from trees, leaves and berries.

Donate now to sponsor Marina Valera Rojas at the 2011 Market and help change lives of Shipibo women in Peru.

For more information about Shipibo communities, see: http://www.yolisala.8m.com/shipibos.html

This is the first in a series of stories to help introduce you to some of our first-time artists coming to the Market.

Sidreh is a nonprofit organization established in 1998 to empower, represent and improve the situation of Bedouin women living in Israel.  Sidreh works in the Negev Desert where almost 180,000 Bedouins live under extremely challenging conditions, with inadequate housing and a shortage of public services. 

The organization works towards achieving gender equality, integration, and prosperity in the region for some of the most underprivileged in Israel, where education levels are alarmingly low. 

Sidreh is named after a tree that grows in the Naqab – the Arabic name for the Negev Desert.  The sidreh tree is mentioned in the Quran as a metaphor for women’s survival.

Sidreh has developed literacy training workshops as well as continuing education programs for adult women in several villages.  Programs cover topics such as health education, maternity, community life, leadership, rights and empowerment.  The organization has also developed teacher-training programs and works closely with schools and educational institutions. 



As Bedouin women tend to be confined to their homes, Sidreh also arranges entertainment and travel opportunities for women.  Through these programs, hundreds of women have visited the sea for the first time, as well as places such as Jerusalem, Akka and Haifa.

Sidreh also helps set up and support women’s committees in villages, working with other institutions and with the local men to ensure their acceptance and collaboration.  As a result, women now appear in public spaces, participate in decision-making processes and take active roles in community activities. Women are finally gaining the tools to cope with the modern world as independent individuals. 

More than 11,000 copies of a newspaper created by Sidreh are distributed for free throughout Negev, serving as a tool to promote a positive image of women and highlighting their important role as members of the community.

Lakiya Negev Weaving

Economic empowerment is a key element in improving the situation for Bedouin women, and Sidreh promotes employment and small business development initiatives including technical training, small business exhibits, and joint tourism efforts to attract more visitors to the area. 



In addition, Sidreh promotes generating sustainable income by transforming women’s traditional weaving skills into a professional manufacturing business, empowering women both socially and economically.  One of the main economic development projects is Lakiya Negev Weaving, which enables over 100 women to produce rugs, bags, pillow cases and wall hangings.

The women are divided into six specialized groups including spinners who use traditional spindles to create yarn, those that skein the wool and prepare the wool for dyeing, those that dye the wool, the interweavers who combine two strands of wool to spin a very strong strand on the spindles, the weavers who use the traditional Bedouin ground loom that they construct themselves, and finally those who perform the finishing process, sewing seams and binding the edges, creating hand-rolled tassels, cleaning the carpets and performing quality control.



This craft is part of the Bedouin heritage, and ground looms have been in use for nearly 4,000 years.  When they lived in tents, the women wove the tent itself, one for winter made with goat hair, and a summer tent from camel hair.  The tradition passed from mother to daughter within families and clans.  Historically, Bedouin women also wove carpets, belts, and other items used in both public and private life.  After they moved to modern houses in the 1980s the tradition began to die out, except when women made wedding gifts of carpets and similar items.  The aim of the Lakiya Negev Weaving is to preserve this beautiful tradition, and in doing so, restore the self-esteem of the Bedouin women and to earn respect within their own communities. 

Haiger Sana

Haiger Sana is one of the artists who will be attending the Market from Sidreh. She is 58 and a mother of nine children.  She was the first Bedouin woman to go to the Quttab, the Arab school system where she learned to read and write and studied the Quran. Her family made fun of her and for a time she was embarrassed, but she continued to study, and now she appreciates the value of her studies and can read newspapers and the holy Quran. Although she was only permitted to stay in school through the fifth grade, she later learned Hebrew with assistance from the Sidreh organization.  She now works for Sidreh in the weaving project



“When I lived in tents, I did not know there were people in the world who were not Bedouin and who lived differently,” she said.  But through her education she learned there is a different way to live in the world, and has witnessed all the changes that the Bedouin society in Israel has experienced, moving from tents to sheds and now to a modern house.  She is the first Bedouin woman who learned how to drive and with her earnings, she has supported three of her daughters’ education – one of her daughters is now a nurse, one is an accountant and one a lawyer.

You can help sponsor this first-time group at the 2011 Market and change lives of Bedouin women in Israel.

Karim Oukid Ouksel is a Berber jewelry maker from the Kabylian region of Algeria who will be attending the 2011 Santa Fe International Folk Art Market – his first visit.

His jewelry pieces are made in silver, adorned with enamel and inlayed corals. They include rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches and pendants incorporating the dramatic geometric patterns used widely in the Berber culture.

To make a piece, Karim works from a previous piece or a drawing of a new design, starting out with a simple piece of silver, then adding the decorative filigree elements using pliers or soldering smaller pieces on; the piece is dipped in an acidic solution for cleaning.

Then enamel is painted on and heated to fix the enamel. Next, the coral is placed before a final cleaning and polish.

Karim comes from the small village of Ath Yani in the Kabylia region, which has a long and rich tradition of jewelry production.

In the 12th century the population of the village started working in metals to make agriculture tools, arms and jewelry.

Today the art still plays a very important part in the daily life and financial wellbeing of the people of the village

Karim was trained in the craft from a young age, and he says, ‘My interest and commitment together with my vocational training built the wish to continue this long tradition and to promote the rich culture of my land and my community.’

Kabylian women proudly wear their jewels in everyday life and on special occasions as well. Karim says “˜For big occasions like weddings, births, baptisms and others women get out all the big jewels they have!”

Karim now lives and works in Spain but he’s in constant contact with his culture and his family. He also teaches Kabylian Berber Jewelry at the Massana Art School in Barcelona.

He continues “My work in jewelry is connected with my country and its culture in all its sides. In the region where I come from, the jewelry is an artistic expression that has passed on from generation to generation.

“My pieces are more than a decorative object, they express poems and stories, they represent rivers, mountains, compasses, a vase, a color, a flower, a fruit and the love of my motherland. ”

> You can help sponsor Karim as a first-time artist by contributing to the 2011 Market.

Watch Karim at work

Here’s a slideshow of Karim working on some of his wonderful pieces.

In honor of the recent International Women’s Day we’d like to highlight of the accomplishments of some of the women who attended the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market last year. Work by many of these groups can be seen at the Empowering Women: Artisan Cooperatives That Transform Communities exhibition in the Gallery of Conscience at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. The exhibition, which closes on May 8th, looks at the impact these groups have in changing lives in their communities and preserving traditional crafts and customs.

Kakuben Jivan Ranmal’s organization SEWA Trade Facilitation Center (STFC) – an arm of SEWA – the Self Employed Women’s Association – has more than 15,000 women artisan members from the desert region of Gujarat, in western India.

The group’s aim is to empower poor women financially, helping them to create livelihoods for themselves and their families by selling their traditional embroidery.

Maria Rengane from the Tsonga tribe in Winterveldt, South Africa, the founder of the Mapula (Mother of Rain) Embroidery Project women’s cooperative.

She embroiders words on all of her AIDS quilts to remind her community and the world that “you must not be ashamed of speaking out, telling the community! When you keep quiet you sign your own death warrant.”

With embroidery, Maria and the other members of the collective call attention to the joys and hardships of their homeland.

Amina Yabis and her Cherry Buttons cooperative does great work offering training and support for Moroccan women artisans, and forming an annual young girls empowerment camp.

Programs include a training program for large floor loom weaving, a springboard for a literacy campaign for women, a women’s leadership program, a natural dying workshop, and many more opportunities for successful engagement in public life.

The Kala Raksha Trust is a grassroots social enterprise founded in 1993.

Its goal is to turn the historic folk art of embroidery into a source of self-sufficiency and self-esteem for thousands of women in western India.

Dedicated to the preservation of traditional arts, the Trust champions fair trade practices and involves artists in the pricing and marketing of their own products.

The Umoja Uaso Women’s Group in Kenya serves as a refuge for victims of domestic abuse.

It also offers a training center for promoting human rights, economic empowerment, and the preservation of indigenous art and craft.

The group also dedicates itself to informing women about their rights, their health (for example, by encouraging pregnant Umoja residents to receive prenatal care), and helped them start income-generating activities.

In 10 years, the women of the OckPopTok group in Lao PDR have grown the cooperative from a one-room weaving studio for local weavers to an internationally recognized heritage destination, gallery, retreat center, and women’s weaving collaborative for over 200 artisans in three provinces and seven villages.

Ock Pop Tok is the Lao translation for East meets West.

Women of the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco, Peru are working to revitalize a dying weaving tradition.

Each region supports its own cooperative structure with elected board members, product development, and education.

With a state-of-the-art museum for Andean textiles and a weaving training center, the CTTC in Cusco has become a destination for tourists and community members alike.

Manjula Narula and the Janakpur Women’s Development Center, Nepal are improving the socio-economic status and livelihoods for Maithili women through a women’s center devoted to the traditional arts.

Women of the Maithili culture traditionally painted designs on the outside walls of their homes, but now have begun painting the same images on handmade paper.

The Center employs 50 women and has brought income to many families in the Janakpur area.

Janet Nkubana and her Gahaya Links Cooperative, Rwanda have developed a center of reconciliation for Hutu and Tutsi women to weave baskets of peace and economic prosperity.

“Art heals the hopeless soul,” says member Ephigenia Mukantabana.

“And through interaction you reduce trauma. Weaving is hope for tomorrow.”

Nurse Thembeni Mdluli and her Phez’kwemkhono Bomake-Ncheka Cooperative, are working to earn money for their families and to provide support for the community’s many AIDS orphans.

The name of their cooperative, “Phez’kwemkhono,” is a Swazi call from woman to woman to say, “We are the rock that doesn’t collect dust, that shouldn’t collect dust; keep moving.”

Ique Etacore de Picanerai from Cheque Oitedie Cooperative, Bolivia, is working with indigenous Ayoreo women to harvest a bromeliad as well as produce and market hand-woven and dyed fiber bags to an international market.

The group’s sales amount to over 50% of the total community income, and now they manage a collective bank account for the first time.

The Ayoreo clan is a matriarchal group and the women, as heads of families, now freely determine how to spend the money they earn.

Rebecca Lolosoli from the Umoja Uaso Women’s Group in Kenya attended the Market in 2010 (as she had previously done in 2009).

On her return to Africa, she’s used some of the group’s earnings from the Market to build a two-room stone house to serve as a chicken coop.

Much of the livestock the group had been depending on had been stolen or died off during a recent drought. The chicken coop introduces a new and more stable source of income for the women.

The main room is for the 50 laying hens they’ve bought, and second room houses the expensive feed securely.

The group plans to sell eggs to local shops, boil some of the eggs to sell ready to eat, and use others to cook breakfast for tourists staying at the campsite they also operate.

This is a great example of the kind of sustainable change for good that money raised at the Market can help produce.

For more information about the Umoja Uaso Women’s Group, see our earlier blog post on them, or visit their website:  http://www.umojawomen.org/

Association Sahalandy is a group of seven weaving cooperatives representing 80 weavers in the area of Sandrandahy in the central highlands of Madagascar. They will be attending the 2011 Santa Fe International Folk Art Market – their first time at the Market.

Madagascar – the fourth largest island in the world – is located 300 miles off the Southeastern coast of Africa, and it draws upon both its African and Indonesian history to create a unique way of life.

Formed in 2006, Association Sahalandy represents the Merina and Betsileo people and is the culmination of years of collaboration between seven local weaving cooperatives. Its objectives include empowering women in the community, increasing non-subsistence income, building a traditional house designed to serve as a cultural heritage tourism attraction, and teaching the weaving tradition to future generations.

Association Sahalandy works to improve the quality of life of its members by supporting the producers of sustainable silk and cotton products.  They strive to improve the standard of living of each household represented in the association.  They want the community of Sandrandahy to be well represented and respected not only in the country of Madasgascar, but also around the world. They would also like to acquire more skills and education about the market abroad in order to be independent of funding and assistance.

The scarves produced by Association Sahalandy are made from silkworm cocoons. The weavers spin the silk threads, dye the strands with rich, natural colors and then use decades-old machinery to weave the thread. They also make other types of products including tablecloths, curtains and wall hangings.

Weaving, especially with silk, plays a vital role to the culture and daily life in Sandrandahy.  It is a village known especially for the large number of weavers, and their creative abilities to create beautiful work.

Weaving is thought to be an archetypal female occupation in the highlands of Madagascar.  The relationship between women and weaving starts at birth with the newborn child is introduced to the community for the first time.  During these celebrations, family members carry objects symbolic of the baby’s gender – weaving tools for girls.

Girls traditionally learn the entire weaving process from gathering, preparing and washing silk cocoons to spinning, weaving, and finally sewing together the panels from elder family relatives. Men normally hold intermediary position in this process by assisting with the agricultural tasks or during the winter reburial season when textile demand is high.

People of this area view wearing the lamba (cloth) as a symbol of national pride and cultural identity.  When the upper classes began adopting European fashions in the 19th century, they continued to wear the lamba over their foreign garments on important occasions.

A Malagasy proverb explains the importance of silk cloth to the culture, ‘This is the lamba.  When one is angry it is wrapped around the waist to free one’s hands to fight, when one sleeps it serves as a blanket, when one goes out it is worn as clothing, when one dies it becomes a shroud.’

Worn by the wealthy and the poor alike, lamba dress up any outfit.  Weaving is empowering monetarily, socially, and spiritually for women and girls in this area. This unique skill gives them the chance to take control of their livelihoods, realize their ultimate potential and transform their world.

As they have become aware of the beauty in the goods that they have the skills to create, the women in this small village have begun to envision an alternate future with enhanced business savvy and further capacity building, they can improve their lives and their communities while preserving their traditions and the unique natural environment in which they live.

Natalie Mundy, a Peace Corps volunteer from Roanoke, VA recently spent nine months in Sandrandahy, teaching the weavers marketing, human resources management, accounting and financing skills. ‘It’s a lot about self-worth,’ says Natalie. ‘I have told them, ‘You all do incredible work. There is a market for this.’

A Malagasy saying printed on the tags that comes with the scarves sums up the importance of weaving in Malagasy culture, and also the power of Association Sahalandy: ‘One silk strand is strong, but when many are woven together, they are stronger.”

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