There is more that unites people across the world than divides them. Perhaps not everyone would agree with this. But listening to participants at a recent cultural exchange programme between Native American and Southern African artisans suggests that this notion is not so far from the truth.
A delegation of Native American artists and designers came to South Africa as part of a two-week exchange programme organised by international NGO, the WK Kellogg Foundation, to work alongside fashion designers from across the Southern African Development Community. The event culminated in a fashion show last Saturday.
One participant, fashion designerPatricia Michaels who hails from Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, home to a thriving Native American community, says: ”I think it is very important to have people who can speak about cultural identities.”
For Michaels, the battles fought by Native Americans — including their ”near obliteration” — to retain their unique cultures are similar to those that African designers and artists now experience, as they fight to reclaim their cultures from a history of colonial oppression.
The programme has etched out other parallels between Michaels’s culture and Southern African traditions. The flamboyant use of colour is something South African designers share with Native Americans, she says.
Designers from both communities also share the challenge that they often don’t have competitive production capacities, they lack the infrastructure and resources to produce large amounts of clothing and, says Michaels, labour costs in the United States are extremely high.
She reflects a view shared by many local designers when she says: ”The consumer can’t be lazy anymore.” By that she means that the hunt for a great bargain can no longer be a driving force when people shop. Consumers should be responsible in their choices and need to understand the work that goes into the jewellery and clothing they wear.
The programme is about more than just sharing cultural connections. It aims to give local artists, designers and crafters the tools to access international markets and increase their share of the wealth that cultural art and craft can generate.
Peter de la Porte, producer of the fashion show, says the criteria used to choose the SADC delegates was that they placed an emphasis on partnering with local communities.
Young designers today, he says, perceive fashion as being far less frivolous than it once was.
”It is much more tied to the idea of identity, both personal identity and national identity,” says De la Porte. ”They recognise that rural craft and idiom in their work are very important to their sector.”
For this reason De La Porte believes the Native American designers and artists were a good group to pair with SADC-based ones, as they have managed to preserve their unique heritage despite the assimilative nature of broader American culture.
Fashion is a way for rural craft to enter into and become a part of a very high-end and lucrative export product, says De la Porte. The time is right to create a fashion industry based on local, positional values and take it to the world.
To this end, the Kellogg Foundation is trying to build links between artists and local, regional and international markets, says Gail McClure, vice president of the foundation’s programmes. The foundation wants to offer local crafters the means to access a greater share of the wealth and ”move up the value chain”.
McClure says that the organisation is looking at various ways of doing this, including scholarships and apprenticeships to educate artists further. They are also considering financial arrangements to help local artists grow their businesses.
