An article in Beyond Tunis: Flightplan 1.5, published by Global Knowledge Partnership
The Airport (the context of ideas and the grounding of though
LIDWINA: Throughout the past year I worked on two different Design and Product Development projects (with a focus on traditional craft) in Ethiopia carried out by the United nations and the World Bank. Very soon I realized the strong potentials for artistic skills in the country. The designers, artists, traditional painters as well as manuscript writers I worked with were very talented people and had the strong ability to go through various creativity processes easily (with a nice outcome), after they were discussed. Because of the potential the question permanently raised on how to carry further this ambition punch of the people in terms of education, design, building up a network within the designer, artists, manuscript writers and traditional painters, and then link them with national and international projects, companies, school/universities.
On an ordinary workday, Ami Suddenly called me in Ethiopia after I haven't heard from him for years...
AMI: Running a home textile decorative factory I started in Thailand over twenty years ago, I always looked for designs, creativity and talented individuals. The conventional wisdom has always been that production, founded on good craftsmanship and cheap labour takes place in the "East" and the intellectual side takes place in the "West". I hated those distinctions; I hated a geographical "Maslowian" division of labours. And so I loved it when I saw increasing opportunities for design and creativity in Thailand, but I loved it more, when I discovered, with Lidwina, a new "West". I worked with her on a few design projects in the past, she was a 16th century discoverer, an 18th century missionary, a 20th/21st century development worker, and a futuristic, 23rd century designer, all wrapped in on. When I traced her through her Viennese Mom to Addis Ababa, she told me about the leather-craft World Bank project she was involved with. What could we do, we both wondered, and then we realized that if my company needs "Western" designers to sell to "Western", and, increasingly, "Eastern" clientèle (yes, we sell in S.E. Asia, we sell even in China, and, further East, much further East, we sell in the US, even all the way to the "East Coast" LOL!!!), then what's more West than Ethiopia. Some people ask me where's the next place for cheaper labour (China is getting expensive, they say), but I say, what's the next place for fresh ideas, designs, new angles, new sources of inspiration, creativity. Go West, Young Man...and I did....Lidwina was waiting, with a big bowl of Ingera.
The Runway Light (the intellectual, technological or practical guide)
LIDWINA: There are no guidelines as such. We are not aware of any projects that have tried something like that idea before. Or are we?
But each country has its own history, tradition and present life - which are great resources for creativity. Ethiopia has clearly developed a strong language in terms of artistic expression/design. It is a strong basis on which can be built especially if some further investment is done in therms of education (language, design, use of computer and internet) and network building.
AMI: We are creating the model as we go. We use the things we have and try to make them work in harmony. We can then welcome new elements that we consider as beneficial. What do we have: there is a Thai factory, well established with lots of global design team there headed by Efi, who's so closely attuned to fashion and lifestyle trends, having designed and created in Paris, California, Tunis (he went "Beyond Tunis" already 15 years ago), Laos (setting a UN sponsored women's fashion products cooperative) and for the past 9 years, Bangkok. As he is adopting Thai values, his team of Thai designers are craving Western values; what a mess! So, why not to complicate an already complicated life by digging and tapping a new fountain of creative youth.
Lidwina knew her way in Ethiopia so well, she was so well tuned in to a large network of painters, artists, manuscript writers, tribal chiefs, shamans, you name it. She could write the biography of each of them. Nobody I knew was interested in Africa!!! But I thought, let's throw the convention straight out of the window. So, I went to Ethiopia expecting the worst. What did I find? I found the worst!!! But then I also found the very best. I was stunned by the amount of cultural and artistic debris collecting rust and dust. A mind-boggling network of King Solomon Mines of the soul, treasure dug deep into the spirit.
Lidwina was teaching me that "capacity" is not just for factory managers. It's about people... It's hard for selfish "biznessmen" like me to get, with with her enthusiasm, she got me on board. On my side, I was trying to hint to her that the "Private Sector", rather than being the source of all evil in the Universe, could actually build "human capacities" fast and effectively. I think I got her on board. I discovered the existence of a civil sector, she rediscovered the existence of the private sector. I'd love to tap into a promising new kind of networking that breaks conventions on sectoral and geographical divides. West or East, Private, Civil or Public, who cares? All are welcome. One condition though: IT'S GOT TO WORK.
LIDWINA: But one of the most important issues for me was and still is, that this idea has to work for all; the factory, Tel-Dan in Bangkok, as well as for the designers in Ethiopia. Both need to benefit!! All have to develop in the process and gain. So how to get there?
Before we started with our first design-session last summer, I selected the best manuscript writers, traditional painters, designers and students I had worked with in the past year. The background of these people were very different. Some were priests, others students, some had hardly any education, all came from different place from all over Ethiopia. With this very selected bunch of talented people we developed wonderful textile designs. The themes we worked on were requests from Tel-Dan in Thailand, which collected them globally. It was a try, no one in this particular group has ever done textile design before. The two weeks were divided into an educational part - to introduce basic textile design issues - and the other time was used for pure design sessions. Throughout all the time intense and fruitful discussions were going on in between the designers and myself. It was wonderful, manuscript writers learned from artists, designers from traditional painters.
The Flightplan (wherever the ideas are heading)
AMI and LIDWINA: Where are we heading, what's the "flight plan"? We went through a workshop in Addis, but it will need additional input, and it will need critical mass to take off. Could we create a community of artists in Ethiopia, link them on line with the latest retail trends in the consumer destinations, bring them over to Thailand to work with our team, go there, organize additional workshops, offer them scholarships, take them to the consumer destination centers, give them a face, give them a voice, right there, on center stage.
The internet, modern transportation, will allow it to happen much easier, and perhaps will allow it to happen fast and may be spread. But let there be no mistakes. These are tools, not substance. You can't do it only online, you need to meet, discuss, inspire face to face, and you don't just fly in and out, you need to stay for periods, in both directions.
It can and should be done in other places, for other products. Maybe there will be more destinations for us too (AMI: Lidwina worked in many countries, and we have the capacity to move around the globe). But we guess that it is also a question of focus. This is not a gimmick. This is about people. This is about... "CAPACITY BUILDING". You need to connect with these people, work with them them, you can go to other places too, but you don't just jump around like crazy. This is about the most important business there is: EDUCATION. But it's also very much about a very educational activity: BUSINESS. In that order of priority, (AMI: OK!!!)
THIS IS OUR FLIGHT PLAN
Friday, June 15, 2007
DESERT ORCHID
This article is written by Charlotte Cowell, the Editor of Greetings Today, the fastest growing magazine in the greetings card industry and that has the highest circulation in the business. It's published in edition February 07 Issue 5 Volume 8.
Charlote Cowell looks at how Thai manufacturer, Tel-Dan, and freelance designer, Lidwina Dox, have come up with a sustainable grass-root-level design proect that taps into the rich cultural heritage of Ethiopia.
I first became acquainted with Tel-Dan's owner, Ami Zarchi, at the launch party for Candlelight's new singing cards and cushions last year. It was then that I became intrigued by a new project he told me about, which has enabled traditional Ethiopian craftsmen to see their unique artistic creations translated into fine art prints and textiles. (Tel-Dan itself is an exporter of home textiles and other decorative products, supplying to a global customer network that includes Ikea, Habitat, Candlelight, Target and Tesco).
Austrian-born Lidwina Dox, who came up with the concept for Tel-Dan said: "I'm a freelance designer and I'd done work previously in Ethiopia, with craftsmen and artists of all kinds, throughout the country. When Ami called me up to say he wanted to work with me again, I suggested that we don something in Ethiopia. He loved the idea, so I chose the best people I'd worked with out there and we really got the project underway in Summer 2006."
"Conventional Wisdom," says Ami, "has always been that production, founded on good craftsmanship and cheap labour, takes place in the "East" and the intellectual side happens in the "West". I hated those distinctions and loved it when I discovered, with Lidwina, a new "West". People ask me where the next place for cheap labour will be (China is getting expensive, they say), but I want to know the next place for fresh ideas, new sources of inspiration and creativity."
Picking up the story, Lidwina continues. "We spent 12 days in the workshop and the group came up with around 200 designs, loosely based around the themes of Art Nouveau, Lines & Structure and also free-hand design. It was an exciting thing for us all to work on and none of the artists had done anything like this before or worked on textile previously. When the artwork was done I took it over to Bangkok to show Ami and together with feedback from customers we chose around 15 designs on which to base the new collections. The collections included things like pillows, curtains, bed-covers and so on."
Speaking of the project's unique nature and appeal, Ami told me: "There is so much cultural heritage in that part of Africa and it's all being neglected. Everyone over there seems to be relying on charity projects and although there are countless NGO's it's hard to see what they're achieving at an sustainable, grass roots level. I really want this to be a long-term project that I can keep coming back to."
Explaining the economic situation in this impoverished part of Africa Ami explains that: "The private sector in Ethiopia is overwhelmingly concentrated in controlling the natural resources, people generally don't do design projects over there. Any that do take shape are dependent on organizations such as the World Bank, there's very little private initiatives."
"We're still deciding exactly how best to make use of the artwork. Much of the art is suitable for conversion into commercial prints, so that's one thing we're looking into. I would like to sell the work as a collection and include information about the artists with that. The artists we use are already being well paid but we also want to give them some benefit when their work is sold."
"As the project is still in a developmental phase," Lidwina adds, "we're currently seeing hot it's going to go, but we have hight hopes. African art is so popular now but as design source Ethiopia is pretty much untapped."
Charlote Cowell looks at how Thai manufacturer, Tel-Dan, and freelance designer, Lidwina Dox, have come up with a sustainable grass-root-level design proect that taps into the rich cultural heritage of Ethiopia.
I first became acquainted with Tel-Dan's owner, Ami Zarchi, at the launch party for Candlelight's new singing cards and cushions last year. It was then that I became intrigued by a new project he told me about, which has enabled traditional Ethiopian craftsmen to see their unique artistic creations translated into fine art prints and textiles. (Tel-Dan itself is an exporter of home textiles and other decorative products, supplying to a global customer network that includes Ikea, Habitat, Candlelight, Target and Tesco).
Austrian-born Lidwina Dox, who came up with the concept for Tel-Dan said: "I'm a freelance designer and I'd done work previously in Ethiopia, with craftsmen and artists of all kinds, throughout the country. When Ami called me up to say he wanted to work with me again, I suggested that we don something in Ethiopia. He loved the idea, so I chose the best people I'd worked with out there and we really got the project underway in Summer 2006."
"Conventional Wisdom," says Ami, "has always been that production, founded on good craftsmanship and cheap labour, takes place in the "East" and the intellectual side happens in the "West". I hated those distinctions and loved it when I discovered, with Lidwina, a new "West". People ask me where the next place for cheap labour will be (China is getting expensive, they say), but I want to know the next place for fresh ideas, new sources of inspiration and creativity."
Picking up the story, Lidwina continues. "We spent 12 days in the workshop and the group came up with around 200 designs, loosely based around the themes of Art Nouveau, Lines & Structure and also free-hand design. It was an exciting thing for us all to work on and none of the artists had done anything like this before or worked on textile previously. When the artwork was done I took it over to Bangkok to show Ami and together with feedback from customers we chose around 15 designs on which to base the new collections. The collections included things like pillows, curtains, bed-covers and so on."
Speaking of the project's unique nature and appeal, Ami told me: "There is so much cultural heritage in that part of Africa and it's all being neglected. Everyone over there seems to be relying on charity projects and although there are countless NGO's it's hard to see what they're achieving at an sustainable, grass roots level. I really want this to be a long-term project that I can keep coming back to."
Explaining the economic situation in this impoverished part of Africa Ami explains that: "The private sector in Ethiopia is overwhelmingly concentrated in controlling the natural resources, people generally don't do design projects over there. Any that do take shape are dependent on organizations such as the World Bank, there's very little private initiatives."
"We're still deciding exactly how best to make use of the artwork. Much of the art is suitable for conversion into commercial prints, so that's one thing we're looking into. I would like to sell the work as a collection and include information about the artists with that. The artists we use are already being well paid but we also want to give them some benefit when their work is sold."
"As the project is still in a developmental phase," Lidwina adds, "we're currently seeing hot it's going to go, but we have hight hopes. African art is so popular now but as design source Ethiopia is pretty much untapped."
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