The focal news item this summer is the Cricket World Cup. While preparations are under way for this four yearly premier sporting event there are other sectors hoping to be winners at the end. The crafts industry is one that hopes to score big outside the field of play.Last year’s World Summit on Sustainable Development could be viewed as a trial run. The Wanderers sports ground, where Cricket World Cup matches are scheduled, saw the mother of all craft jamborees at the public platform Ubuntu Village. Here, grassroots South African products stole the limelight from important global initiatives.Today, a selection of these products have been transferred to the Bus Factory in Newtown, which is administered by the Craft Council, an NGO. But don’t be deceived by the name. At the architectural reworking of Johannesburg’s old transport depot there are no mechanical spare parts. Everything is pristine in this space, revamped to the tune of R10-million by Blue IQ and the Gauteng Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture in conjunction with the Johannesburg Development Agency and the national Department of Arts and Culture.The Bus Factory’s current show stands out for its competent level of curatorship. The Craft Council’s administrator, Susan Sellschop, has filled the venue with the finest craft pieces available in the country today. The whole will act as a launch pad for the flowering crafts industry.But how big is this industry? ‘It’s all a thumb suck,” says Sellschop. ‘We get products from unimaginable corners of this country.” It is estimated that more than three million people use their hands to make items that, once sold, will fill humble coffers. Sellschop says that the design and craft centre will ultimately operate as a training and marketing hub for South African crafts. Good public relations will sensitise people to the importance of this valuable national heritage.’The exchange of information and flow of ideas will help stimulate both the artists’ creativity and production,” says Sellschop.A buying committee is well on track to advise on the relevance of products, pricing, quality and new markets. For most of these products Europe, North America and Asia are the major targets. The local market is still reluctant. ‘People have been crying for markets, and that’s the beginning. We’ll try and turn this space into a crafts hub market, where buyers will come into contact with the crafters,” she says.While the markets have started opening up, it remains unclear whether crafters are making money. The ones that do, of course, have access to the international markets and understand market trends.Craft items are the fruits of labour by some of the poorest citizens, and most don’t have the time or know-how to market their wares. As a result, they require retail space and knowledge to prevent them from becoming victims of shrewd foreigner buyers posing as tourists. As tourists drop in for the Cricket World Cup, an instant global market opens up and the crafters have to produce more and sell. As a result, there is a danger that craftspeople may responds to a taste of international success by mass-producing shoddy and unrefined ‘curio” items. ‘This is where a unified crafts council would come in and help those with us to check for quality,” say Sellschop. As for street vendors whose pricing structures are unregulated and below the going rate — experts at the Craft Council are not that concerned. Sellschop notes, ‘We are not forcing everyone to market their products through us.” Indeed, there is no easy solution to obtaining uniform high standards or structures, but the Craft Council is well on its way to encouraging collective success.While the nation prays for the Proteas, the craftspeople are also having their night vigils, hoping for high scores at the tills.
The Bus Factory is located at 1 President Street, Newtown. It is open Tuesday to Friday from 11am to 6pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. For Craft Council enquiries Tel: (011) 646 4169