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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