Clare Brett Smith
President, Aid to Artisans, Inc.
How To Get "From Maker to Market"; Artisans & the Market Economy
PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CONSERVANCY AND DEVELOPMENT
September 1999, Yunnan Province, China
1. Importance of the artisan sector.
I need not mention the cultural content of an artisans sector, as it is so visible in the shops and markets of this province as well as in the crafts, the public and private architecture, the homes and household utensils, the daily clothing and the costumes, the tools and devices. This is a land where the "hand" is visible. My emphasis, as a lifelong advocate of the economics of crafts, is on the commercial possibilities for artisans and their communities. Artisans and their work represent both the folk culture and the daily living patterns of their communities and, in an un-self-conscious way, offer people outside the community an insider's view. There is no doubt that this conference, designed around the diverse cultures, environments and social situations of Yunnan Province, emphasizes the value and the beauty of diversity both to those who live in Yunnan province and to those who live elsewhere. Enriching the lives of outsiders with their cultural, economic and environmental diversity is, to those of us who are outsiders, an obvious benefit and a very generous act. While thankful for this gift, I would like to present the Aid to Artisans methodology for returning the benefits, economic, cultural and environmental to the artisans through markets. Traditional, indigenous and utilitarian crafts die without support of some sort, and when such relatively inexpensive substitutions such as factory-made plastic pots and machine-embroidered clothing flood the market, they cannot compete. Some crafts can live on or be rescued in museums and among collectors, but only a few, and, all too soon, the skilled artisans turn to something else at which they can actually make a living. Most economists dismiss the artisan sector as too "micro" for serious consideration. Most of the evidence, similar to what I myself will soon present, is anecdotal, non-controversial, and quite charming. The sector is, in reality, very large, and much of its impact is subsumed into farm activity (between crops) or homemaker "pin" money. Most studies, even the lengthy 1988 "Artisans in Economic Development" (edited by Elwood Pye, published by the Canadian International Development Research Centre), rely on incomplete statistics. The statistics from India, for example, include carpets and jewelry in their export figures, two very large categories that are not included by other handicraft-producing giants like Indonesia and the Philippines. This shortage of history and statistics is one of the great gaps in understanding the importance and extent of the artisan sector. Some more accurate - limited but still impressive – statistics come from sources such as tourism and development agencies within local governments.
We know, for example, that the state of North Carolina counted the flow of dollars from artisan enterprises in their western mountainous region and found an astounding annual $122,000,000 to be a major part of the state economy. Since then, through craft promotion of an innovative tourism and marketing program called Handmade in America, it has gone far higher, along with all the related increases in meals, travel, overnight stays – not to mention the taxes paid to the gratified state government on all this activity. Handmade in America is a program funded by a consortium of government, academia and private enterprises--an unusual combination, but a combination beginning here in Yunnan Province as well. We ourselves know that our own efforts in developing markets for Peruvian handcrafts over the past four years have brought 9.9 million dollars into the Peruvian handcraft industry. Nine million dollars worth of handcrafts represents an enormous number of pots, basket, carvings and sweaters and, even more importantly, a lot of jobs.
Our own project with Armenian knitters created more than 600 jobs, almost all of them for women, many of whom can stay at home while they knit for export. These jobs were created at a job creation cost that worked out at only $200 per job. Most job creation figures, especially in the industrial sector, are much, much higher, sometimes in the thousands of dollars. The impact of tourism should be noted. Our group of about sixty foreign experts here at this symposium could be expected to spend money here for gifts, for their own collections, or simply because they like the people, the place and the thing itself. How much? I would guess at least $100 each or $6,000. It would probably not be hard to persuade them to spend much more. The economic exchange is only part of the transaction. The other important factor is that both the producer and the tourist have made a personal connection, in some small way gained increased understanding of each other. How many travelers visit Yunnan Province?
One island in the
Caribbean, where ATA has helped to plan an artisan village, has 3,000,000 visitors
every year. Multiply that figure by even a modest $10 purchase and the total
will be an impressive 30 million dollars.
2. The stories Aid to Artisans has had some successes in preserving and enhancing traditional and indigenous crafts through marketing, mostly international marketing, but locally as well.
I've chosen examples from widely differing regions – Central Asia, West Africa, and Latin America. Working with artisan groups in Kyrgystan, Ghana, and Honduras, we have been able to help artisans build successful businesses based on their own traditions, skills and resources--businesses that have a special advantage in that they need so little investment to start, are so quick to show results, and, as I have mentioned before, a ready market appeal.
In Kyrgystan, sirdak rug-makers have developed an international market for their traditional nomad felt rugs, rugs whose brilliant colors and strong patterns decorate their dwellings, the round wool felt yurts, to this day. This enterprise, while still new as a business, has been part of the nomadic culture for centuries, and every Kyrgys woman knows how to make sirdak rugs for her dowry. In the shift from communism to a market economy, this enterprise has an advantage, as it costs almost nothing to start. There is no machinery, no factory. The work is familiar and the hand skills are already well established. The sheep, already being raised for meat, provide wool for the rugs. Wool production requires a lot of water and Kyrgystan is fed by the snows of the Tien Shan range. Dyes and needles are the only cash outlay for this production.
With advice from Aid to Artisans, design, quality control, business training, and access to buyers at international trade shows, this group of women artisans, "The Golden Thimble" from the small village of Balkonbaeva, is now selling to buyers throughout Europe and America.
Photograph E should go here or nearby – (group of women with sirdak carpet)
In Ghana, an American designer, well known in the world of fashion, accompanied ATA to the village of Ghana. Working along with the artisans at a simple wooden bench under a tree, she modified her designs to match local skills and materials. The necklace I am wearing is a product of that collaboration. The Ashanti people of northern Ghana were famous for their work in gold and particularly dexterous in what is known as the "lost-wax" process. In lost-wax, the artisan makes a beeswax model and packs it in charcoal and clay. The wax is melted out and molten metal is poured into the cavity, truly a one-of-a-kind production.
This tradition
continues, although nowadays the metal is recycled brass from old radiators
and plumbing fixtures. The brass beads in the necklace are later 18K gold-plated
and assembled in and marketed by the designers studio in Arizona. The beads
come from another ancient tradition. Throughout much of Africa, currency was
often glass beads whether fused recycled glass like these or Czechoslovakian
seed beads or Veneitian millefiori. Bead were, and still are, highly valued.
Mine came from old beer and soda bottles. Pounded into powder, sifted into handmade
clay molds, and fused by the fire of a wood-burning kiln, their frosted, not
melted, look is very fashionable. I see the necklace as a symbol of the thinking
here at this conference: a fusion of the forms and techniques of an ancient
culture with the environmental benefit of recycled glass and recycled engine
parts, the social benefit of continued work in rural areas, and the clear economic
benefit from export sales.
Photograph of necklace should go here or near here, slide A.
And BW photo of designer at work in village, photo D
Unlike Ghana, with
its distinguished style, Honduras has no artistic handcraft tradition. Artisans
in Honduras are known for utilitarian skills: thatching roofs, twisting vine
into bridges, carving wooden furniture, and for everyday pottery. We were asked
by the U.S. Agency for International Development to create jobs in rural areas
through the development of the artisan sector. Without a strong tradition, it
was harder to begin, but we began with materials. We chose inexpensive renewable
materials, especially cornhusks, because there is so much of it in a corn-based
agriculture, and because it is not needed for animal fodder or any other purpose.
The decorative wreaths we designed were successful in both the American and
European markets and the results for the rural artisans were what we had hoped.
They were able to continue normal life at home with the families and to make
wreaths in off-seasons. They prospered, albeit modestly, and they themselves
call their group "Un Milagro al Campo", or a Miracle in the Country.
Wreath photograph
should go near here, BW photo B
And BW photo C
of group of women producer
3. From Maker to Market
We have found that,
no matter how many stories we present, how many products we design, or how impressive
the statistics we unearth, most policy-makers only believe in this artisan resource
when they see it for themselves. Yunnan province has many different peoples,
each with such distinctive material culture and each with a long tradition of
respect for the artisan skills required. To artisan development specialists
like Aid to Artisans, this province would be fertile ground for responsible
and sustainable development of the artisan sector. Development of the artisan
sector is far from the narrow concentration that one might think. It incorporates
so many of our current concerns –cultural survival and heritage, rural development
and exodus to the cities, women in development, micro-enterprise and the importance
of micro-credit, environmental degradation, ecology and a sustainable use of
resources. It would be pedantic to point out these elements in each of our stories,
but please notice them. They are all essential elements in the work we do. The
following steps might serve as a starting point in planning a Maker To Market
program were this training to become a part of the Yunnan Development plan,
as I hope it might.
Part One – (already far advanced with the U.S.-China Arts Exchange project and Yunnan scholars)