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The Mustard Seed Africa Rural to Ramp Handicraft Showcase is a platform developed to encourage innovation, creativity, product design and marketing through collaborative efforts between handicraft producers and designers.
It provides a platform to push handicraft artisans beyond boundaries while preserving indigenous knowledge and enables the audience to experience the artistic expression of products which are African by inspiration and contemporary in design.
Mustard Seed Africa has been developing this concept over the years with the main objective of showcasing the best of handicraft and textile design in Africa while stimulating product development to enable the creative development of new product lines.
According to Gail Mawocha, founder and director of Mustard Seed Africa: “Our aim is to raise an awareness of the remarkable skill and talent of handicraft artisans as well as highlight the importance of handicraft as a tool for poverty alleviation.
“We also hope to change the perceptions about handicrafts and to encourage young aspiring designers and students to take an interest in product design,” she further added.
According to the organisers, the Handicraft Showcase is not a fashion show per se, but an event that incorporates drama, folk tales and handicraft design while creating a platform for buyers, designers and stakeholders to appreciate products from a different perspective.
In addition to local organisations such as Lupane Women’s Centre who will showcase their work, five organisations from Swaziland will also be part of this initiative. These include
Gone Rural, Imvelo Eswatini, Quazi Design, Golden Hands and Baobab Batik.
The theme of the Rural to Ramp Handicraft Showcase at Hifa 2013 is T.I.N.A. This theme plays on the well-known acronym T.I.A —This is Africa.
The acronym T.I.A, has many negative connotations attached to it from people not being punctual, “African Time” to the disorganised chaos of an African city. Despite pre-exisitng stereotypes, Africa is changing, but this preconceived idea is hindering “people’s mental progress of these changes”.
T.I.N.A takes a positive and playful twist on this and redefines the cliché, presenting a new optimistic view of this term in a whimsical way. It is time to celebrate all the positive elements that are happening on the continent which make Africa, “the continent of the future”.
Having never heard T.I.A in a positive context it is time for us all to play our part in changing this!
The Rural to Ramp Handicraft Showcase pays tribute to our African roots and celebrates the future. This is New Africa!
Online Reporter