Aid to Artisans Brings Global Handmade Design to NYIGF
Hartford, CT — At the 2008 New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF) August 16-20, Aid to Artisans (ATA) will display a fresh collection of hundreds of handmade products, many showing in the U.S. market for the first time.
ATA is a recognized leader in economic development for the craft sector working around the world and has exhibited at the NYIGF for over 15 years. ATA works with buyers by connecting importers and wholesalers directly to artisans, and by wholesaling products to interested buyers at the NYIGF and other trade shows worldwide.
In ATA’s Booth, ID210 in the NYIGF Handmade Hall, new crafts from 13 countries including Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Haiti, India, Kyrgyzstan, Benin,Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania will be showcased. ATA works directly with artisans in these regions, helping them to design innovative products that will sell in the global market place.
In West Africa, ATA helped artisans create new curtains, pillows and ottomans that use traditional tie-dye techniques on locally grown cotton. This year, the Salvadoran artisan group Alternativa made handbags and totes from recycled truck tire inner tubes. Other designs from El Salvador will feature a new architectural element and products include yellow wicker sculptural balls and room dividers. ATA even helped reinvent the design of popular-selling clay planters from Alejandros Ceramicaartisans. The group created new, beautifully shaped orchid pots made from locally mined terracotta clay.
Old crafts exhibited at ATA’s past NYIGF shows will also come back to life this year. “We will have a full Aid to Artisans Collection of not only our current artisan projects, but products we’ve particularly liked from the past. Iron from Haiti, felt rugs from Kyrgyzstan, and telephone wire and beaded jewelry from South Africa will all be shown,” said Alden Smith, ATA Warehouse Manager.
For those interested in jewelry, ATA will exhibit an array of eye catching pieces including crocheted cotton necklaces from Mali, fused glass from Colombia, and a new beaded chain-link necklace designed by ZenZulu South African artisans, a perfect accessory for a cocktail dress or jeans. For those interested in gifts that give back, ATA’s booth displays socially responsible and eco-friendly shopping at its best. A purchase of a magenta-patterned WolaNani bowl from South Africa helps the producers, women artisans suffering from HIV and AIDS. A purchase of lead-free ceramic pottery made by Barro Sin Plomo artisans in Mexico reveals a story of hope—removing poison from glazes has saved hundreds of lives in Michoacán. Zebra-inspired pillows from Tanzania carry the history ofFlotea Massawe, a successful female craft entrepreneur who defied laws that prohibit most East African women from starting businesses. ATA President David O’Connor and Flotea will be available for press interviews August 16 – 22. Flotea’s company Marvelous Batiks, a textile workshop in Tanzania, is a profitable, self-sustaining craft enterprise assisted by ATA.
Flotea will be speaking August 16 around 4 P.M. at ATA’s annual Market Readiness Program (MRP), a series of intensive business training classes at the NYIGF where artisans from around the world travel to New York to learn how to market and export their products. Over the last 10 years, graduates of this program have been responsible for upwards of $230 million in retail sales.
About Aid to Artisans
Aid to Artisans (ATA) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to economic development for the craft sector working around the world. By linking artisans to new markets and buyers to culturally meaningful product, ATA provides needed economic opportunities to artisans, while preserving the beauty of global handmade crafts.
