UNESCO Provides Valuable Support To the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Contact: Clare Hertel
505-670-3090
Winners of UNESCO’S Prestigious Award of Excellence Will Be Specially Showcased at Three Booths During the 2008 Market
SANTA FE, N. M. – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will again support the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. UNESCO has sponsored the Market since its beginning five years ago and this year, thanks to another grant, craftwork that has been awarded the prestigious Award of Excellence for Handicrafts will be featured at three booths during the Market, July 12–13, 2008. The award program is UNESCO’s flagship program for handicrafts, honoring artists from a number of Asian nations whose work has been judged exceptional in its craftsmanship, innovation, eco-friendliness, marketability and social responsibility.
Three booths at the 2008 Market will feature award-winning handicrafts from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, the Philippines, Malay, Vietnam, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, all of them judged to be among the finest handicrafts currently being produced. The wide variety of fine works will include: Jewelry, carpet weaving, miniature painting, elaborate “narrative” embroidery, “pouncing” or the decorative perforation of cloth.
Being able to feature and sell so many international award-winning handicrafts is a coup for the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market—and a boon for Market shoppers. “The award provides a credible quality-control mechanism which assures buyers that the products are culturally authentic and have been manufactured in a socially-responsible manner with respect for the environment,” says Richard Engelhardt, Regional Advisor for Culture, UNESCO Bangkok.
“UNESCO has been there for us since the beginning, not only providing us with needed financial support but, perhaps even more importantly, allowing us to tap into their tremendous knowledge base on how folk art can bring both cultural preservation and economic sustainability to these artists,” says Charlene Cerny, Executive Director of the International Folk Art Market.
This award was formerly known as the Seal of Excellence for Handicrafts. For additional information and a full list of the AWARD-winning artists whose will be available at the 2008 Market, please visit this page on the Market website (www.folkartmarket.org).