ECONOMY-SOUTH AFRICA: Classic Memento Today, Cliche Tomorrow

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Marina Penderis

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 5 2005 (IPS) - Elongated, wooden carvings of giraffes have become the classic souvenir of a trip to Southern Africa. But, curio sellers in Johannesburg are worried tourists may soon become bored with them.

“People still buy giraffes and other wooden animals, but they are not as popular as before,” says Olga Mabena, who for the past five years has worked in a curio shop next to a busy hotel.

Other such stores in Johannesburg report a similar drop in sales, over the past year. And while vendors at the more informal arts and crafts markets say the carved animals remain popular there, they acknowledge this could change.

In the context of the South African crafts sector, however, loss of interest in carved giraffes isn’t simply a reflection of changing trends: it is a matter of pressing importance for curio producers. As many of these people live in poverty, the slightest shift in taste can have a direct and adverse effect on them.

The South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) estimates that 38,000 people derive a permanent income from craft production, and that close to 400,000 individuals are supported by the sector in South Africa alone.

Much of the African art sold in Johannesburg also comes from other parts of the continent. A carved giraffe may make its way from Kenya to Johannesburg, for example, before being sold to a Spanish tourist. As a result, changes in the South African curio market also have the potential to influence families all over Africa.

Having managed an art stall at Johannesburg’s Rosebank Rooftop Market for seven years, Syliva Adidwa has seen several trends come and go (the market is a favourite haunt of shoppers in search of African designs). In fact, the more popular the design, the more certain vendors are that they will eventually have to replace it.

“Those typically Kenyan animal figures that look as though they are sitting at a table used to be very popular, but they are now in every house. When that happens you have to find something new,” Adidwa told IPS.

Zimbabwe-born Pedro Lisiwa, who specializes in beadwork, agrees on the importance of fresh ideas. After noting that many craft vendors tended to sell the same beaded items, Lisiwa turned his attention to coming up with more innovative designs. He found his inspiration in the pictures of animals in books about wildlife.

Lisiwa says he knows a design is a success if the first one to be displayed is snapped up. That was the case with his most recent creation: a brightly-coloured beaded parrot.

But, a catchy design is only part of what is needed.

“The challenge is to take raw talent to create a craft item that is functional and commercially viable,” says Bruce Jones, managing director of B&B Markets, the company responsible for running Johannesburg’s two best-known arts and crafts markets.

While living in Zimbabwe, Lisiwa preferred to work with wood or stone. He took up beadwork after he came to South Africa four years ago, as the materials were easier to obtain: the wire used to create beaded ornaments, key rings and the like can be bought from any hardware store.

Lisiwa is unusual in that he sells his own handiwork. In South Africa, crafts are often sold by a third party, as producers of the items are typically based in rural parts of the country – or other states. According to the DTI, at least half of South Africa’s craft producers live in rural areas.

“It happens that someone buys a product for 100 rand (approximately 16 dollars) from the person who made it and then you see it in a gallery for 1,500 rand (about 233 dollars),” says Windy Mtembu of the Craft Council of South Africa, who describes the local craft market as a hand-to-mouth industry.

“If you intervene, however, the producer does not get anything. In the shadow of poverty it is easy to accept a low price, because you want to put food on the table,” he adds.

While the DTI estimates the national turn-over of craft retail sales amounts to about 300 million dollars a year, the 38,000 people said to make their living from craft production have a collective turn-over of only 180,000 dollars per year.

Mtembu believes artists need to learn the value of their skills, but says illiteracy tends to limit their ability to negotiate.

“To operate in a business environment you need basic skills like writing or operating a bank account. A person who is illiterate cannot fill in forms. Someone else can fill in the forms for them, but again they become vulnerable,” he says.

Government puts the curio industry’s growth rate at about eight percent a year – a figure it hopes to boost to 15 percent. It is believed this will create 20,000 additional jobs.

Developments in the global economy could put a spoke in these plans. People selling crafts in the markets and curio shops of Johannesburg say business has slowed down recently, something many attribute to the strengthening of the local currency, the rand, against foreign currencies.

“Business has been slow for the past two years,” says Stella Dhladhla, a beadwork artist.

Eve Flack, owner of an arts craft shop in an expensive shopping mall, says foreign visitors now tend to buy cheaper items, preferring token gifts to pieces of art.