‘Helping Communities do Things for Themselves’ in South Africa
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Maria Rengane, Mapula Embroidery Project, South Africa
© Freedom DubeMaria Rengane is from the Tsonga tribe in Winterveldt, South Africa, and she works in the Mapula (Mother of Rain) Embroidery Project women’s cooperative. The work of her cooperative will be featured in the Museum’s exhibition, Empowering Women: Artisan Cooperatives That Transform Communities.
The cooperative started when Maria began teaching women to do embroidery work that they could sell and make some money. She now has a group of 14 women with whom she works, and they receive no outside assistance.
Maria learned embroidery from her mother. With fine technical and visual artistry, Maria embroiders cloths that express village life and women’s personal experiences.
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.
Many people are suffering and dying from AIDS in Maria’s community, and Maria would like to see more efforts from those in power to fight the problem by providing cheaper medicine for the poor.
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’.
You can learn more about Maria here, and look forward to seeing her work at this year’s Market.
Colloquium to Explore Women’s Cooperatives-- Challenges and Opportunities
Friday, May 21, 2010
A two-day colloquium (open only to invited Market artists involved with cooperatives) will take place in the week before the Market.
Entitled “Women’s Cooperatives for Economic and Social Empowerment,” over 35 cooperatives from 23 countries will be taking part. This international gathering will serve as a forum for participants to share their experiences about issues such as preservation of cultural traditions in the face of the global marketplace, tackling social issues, and expanding market access for artisan products to work towards economic sustainability.
Some presentations will take place on a narrated stage, with these dynamic cooperative women leaders as the presenters, in order for more peer-to-peer knowledge exchange to take place.
As part of the event, a number of community-based, women’s arts organizations from New Mexico including members from the Ramah Navajo Weavers Association, Tierra Wools, and Española Valley Fiber Arts Center will share their experiences and artwork in this cross-cultural exchange.
Rebecca Lolosoli, from the Umoja Uaso Women’s Group in Kenya (shown right) says, “My goal is to learn as much as possible about all these topics and how we all share similar problems and difficulties. I want to learn about how other women’s cooperatives function and how they market their work internationally.”
“I will share the story of how our group has managed to survive much abuse, sabotage and many physical dangers in order to stay together as a group in a culture that is patriarchal and in which women have few rights.”
The colloquium is funded in part by UNESCO’s Division of Cultural Expressions and Creative Industries.
Inaugural International Folk Arts Week Highlights the Work of Women’s Cooperatives
Thursday, May 20, 2010
To coincide with this year’s Folk Art Market, there’s a range of folk art related events taking place the week of the Market, July 4-11. Presented by the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market and the Museum of International Folk Art, International Folk Arts Week will give people more opportunities to learn about international folk arts and interact with the artists. It also invites participation by the Santa Fe art community.
Kakuben Jivan Ranmal, embroiderer of SEWA Trade Facilitation Center, photo courtesy of SEWA The week kicks off with the inaugural exhibition in the Gallery of Conscience at the Museum of International Folk Art spotlighting women’s cooperatives participating in the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.
The Gallery of Conscience is a space at the Museum devoted to the examination of issues that threaten the survival of the traditional arts.
Marsha Bol, Director of the Museum of International Folk Art says, “We intend to address such issues as the ecological implications of the acquisition of materials used in producing folk arts, the impact of political conflict and war on folk arts, and various economic and social issues that threaten to disrupt folk arts. We will also exhibit examples of successful solutions to such circumstances.”
The inaugural exhibition is titled Empowering Women: Artisan Cooperatives That Transform Communities, guest curated by Suzanne K. Seriff, Ph.D., Chair of the Folk Art Market’s Artist Selection Committee.
