South Africa is home to a diverse and ever-evolving creative economy. With the wave of digital platforms, supporting African artists who contribute to our creative economy in more traditional ways is imperative. Handicraft vendors are crucial to South Africa’s creative sector and are a consistent contributor to its economy.
‘Marketing My Handicrafts’ by NOKO Designs is a project that aims to provide a platform for small business vendors to design, produce, and sell their handicraft products. A diverse group of handicraft artists were selected to participate in a street market exhibition which took place in the Bus Factory in Newtown, Johannesburg.
The selected group was chosen from a previous skill development training program that Noko Designs had facilitated. Noko Designs provided all the necessary resource materials needed to produce the handicraft products that were exhibited at the vendor’s market. The products on sale ranged from wall hangings, beaded coasters, table covers and mats, beaded cutlery, and other accessories.
The organisation writes, “[We] managed to involve more women than men in the project for empowerment [and] to experience something new. Most of them are single parents, so they are going to learn new skills in designing and producing to make an income to feed their families. On the other side, the youth will have a chance to explore the field of art by learning new skills, including marketing and networking with other artists. [We] managed to identify a couple of artists that will be working together with the organisation for various community projects, they will also be allowed to train many youths who are hooked on drugs and alcohol, as well as early pregnancy. Activities like this will keep them away from those”.
With the financial support of the National Arts Council, the ‘Marketing My Handicrafts’ project has made a great impact within its community of handicrafters. As part of the NAC mandate to support marginalised and vulnerable groups, this project has shed light on the lack of skills and resources within these groups of artists and has proven that with the provided platforms of support, these artists can fulfil their artistic callings.
