Aid to Artisans Set to Display

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 8/18/2008 12:00:00 AM

Hartford, Conn. —

Aid to Artisans, an international non-profit group, is displaying a collection of hundreds of handmade items at the New York International Gift Fair at the Javits Center, Aug.16-20.

Aid to Artisans (ATA) is showing a fresh collection of hundreds of handmade products, many showing in the U.S. market for the first time.

ATA works with buyers by connecting importers and wholesalers directly to artisans, and by wholesaling products to interested buyers at the NYIGF and other trade shows.

ATA's Booth, ID210 in the NYIGF Handmade Hall, shows new crafts from 13 countries including Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Haiti, India, Kyrgyzstan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania.

In West Africa, ATA helped artisans create curtains, pillows and ottomans that use traditional tie-dye techniques on locally grown cotton.

The Salvadoran artisan group Alternativa created handbags and totes from recycled truck tire inner tubes. Other designs will include iron from Haiti, felt rugs from Kyrgyzstan, and telephone wire and beaded jewelry from South Africa.

Zebra-inspired pillows from Tanzania carry the history of Flotea Massawe, a successful female craft entrepreneur who defied laws that prohibit most East African women from starting businesses.