Ethnic-looking, but not Fair Trade

A beaded fair-trade lizard from Crossroads Trade

I was in a Christmas Tree Shop recently, and saw some familiar things -- colorful metal geckos hanging on the walls, and beaded lizards walking across a table.

They looked familiar because I have carried both. The metal geckos I've carried are steel-drum art, hammered and shaped and painted by a  men's co-op in Haiti (recently back in business after the devastating earthquake). The beaded lizards are from a South African organization that provides school and support to children of AIDS victims.

But the geckos and lizards I was looking at were not quite right. They weren't striking. They had no vitality. I couldn't figure it out. They just didn't look jaunty, just lifeless.


Then I turned them over, and I saw a clue to their lifelessness. I also noticed that they wouldn't be providing any of the social and economic benefits of the ones I've carried. These were factory-made in China.

They were, of course, less expensive.  And everyone is on a budget. But when you spend your money on ethnic-looking home decor, think about where that money will go. Do you want the artisans to receive a fair living wage? Do  you want to support a region's economic recovery, and causes that rely on enterprise to fund their operations?

Think, too, whether you are supporting a vital artisanry or mechanical knock-offs. Those knock-offs lacked an artistic vitality because there were no vital artists at work.

Look for the country of origin when you shop. Or ask. Or buy your home decor from a member of the Fair Trade Federation. Like us!

Having a Mother's Day Dilemma?

Our last porch sale was a great success -- so great we're going to do it again! This time, our focus will be on items made by mothers, perfect for Mother's Day.

Back in the day of our brick-and-mortar store, we would get all kinds of husbands into the shop. Some would know exactly what they were looking for. Some would walk in, look around, exhale, and look for help. And help we would, asking questions about what the wife in question usually wore (earrings? necklaces? scarves? big or small? colors?), holding up approximately-sized fingers for ring sizing, modeling necklaces and shawls.

For those worried Mother's Day shoppers, we can still help.We're offering our personalized service again: Thursday and Friday evenings, May 5 and 6, from 6 to 9 p.m., at 24 Ottawa Rd., Arlington, MA. We're also holding a sale traditional yard-sale items and scarves, accessories, and gifts from the home Sat., May 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.at the same location.

We'll have our new, show-stopping jewelry from Nepal that received rave reviews at our booth at a recent show. It can be brought separately or in sets.

 

 We still have some of the popular Guatemalan beaded jewelry from the store.

 

For those mothers who like to focus on the home, we have cushion covers and hangings from Bolvia, Palestine, and South Africa.

We've got striking new baskets from Rwanda. Rwandan women began weaving baskets for sale after the genocide, when so many were left to support their families by themselves.

And for kids on a budget, we have soapstone hearts and critters from Kenya, handmade paper flowers and baskets from Guatemala.

So come by! And you can't, check out our offerings on our web site and on EBay's World of Good.

The Friendly Beasts

We carry so many animals in so many media from so many countries that "critters" is a category in our store database. This time of year, new shipments come every week. Here are the new arrivals.

This porcupine is a wonderful example of the many South African beaded animals we import. (This was part of a shipment that led a customs agent to leave a message, "We have your wire items from South Africa here." As Kate posted previously, getting items from artisan to the market is not always easy.)

From the same South African source we have a great collection of recycled-plastic dogs. These dogs are made with the discarded remains of parade floats.
The porcupine is made by Johannesburg wire artist, and the dog by one of several employment projects around Cape Town. As our supplier notes, "There is so much more to African crafts than African carvings and tribal objects!" Here we have artists using traditional media in new ways, discovering ways to use 21st-century media, and creating new African art forms.

If you go to East Africa without a pair of flip-flops (I learned), your hosts will make sure you have some. For many people, flip-flops are the only footwear they have. People with shoes need flip-flops when they come home and take off those dust-caked shoes. (In Kampala, for example, only the major roads are paved.) Everyone uses them in the bathroom (whether you have full plumbing or a latrine for a toilet and a basin for bathing). With many flip-flops come many flip-flop scraps; Kenyan artisans have turned these scraps into delightful hippos, elephants, and warthogs.

Artisans in the Philippines have transformed the fiber of the Buri palm tree into a delightful series of animals. The palm fibers are shreeded, twisted around a wire frame, and trimmed by hand to make the brush-like texture. Eyes and ears and other details are made from seed pods, carved wood, or rope. We have these critters as stand-alone animals (our possum mother and babies is about nine inches long) and as small ornaments.

These are just four of our critters, but they represent our commitment to recycled materials, to artisans exploring new forms, to employment projects all over the world, and to delight all our animals bring.

-- Lisa

Fair-Trade Thoughts

We’ve just about wrapped up our buying for the holiday season at Crossroads Trade, and, as always, it’s highlighted emerging, complicated ethical issues in fair trade.

We do our buying in several ways. We buy directly from artisans and producer groups in some countries, and we buy through fair-trade wholesalers in others. Many factors go into deciding whether to buy directly. What quality control measures are in place? Can we get an order to port? What export hurdles exist? What trade agreement is in place between a given country and the US? How expensive and time-consuming is reliable shipping? What does it take to get our order out of US Customs? When significant obstacles exist, wholesalers play an invaluable role.

The linchpin of wholesaling is the trade shows. The New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF) is the biggest venue. Five thousand vendors showcase their wares to the retail industry, and, each year, the fair-trade presence at the show increases.

But not only retailers see the products. Industry scouts, wholesalers, and producer groups all have the opportunity to see what each other is producing. At this past show, I saw two wholesalers who were devastated to find that others had copied and were touting as their own products the wholesalers had spent years developing. In other cases, signature products of certain countries were being copied by producer groups from other countries. Telephone-wire and other recycled-basket styles that originated in South Africa are now being produced in Vietnam. They can be produced more cheaply, in part, because the hard work of product development had already been done.

Fair traders have differing perspectives on these dilemmas. Some view anything as fair game; if producing a Russian nesting doll in India will lead to employment in a destitute community, they’re all for it. Others believe it’s cultural theft to produce South African necklaces in Guatemala.

Still others take a nuanced view, as I do. I used to view production of South African style beadwork in Guatemala with horror. But after doing this work for ten years, I’ve seen that Guatemalan beadwork is becoming an art form in its own right. I was upset by Vietnamese production of South African and Brazilian recycled products, until I realized that it was better to have Vietnamese trash put to use than not.

Over the years, I’ve seen many wholesalers come and go. I’ve seen products I’ve designed exclusively for our use sold by others. The decreased value of the US dollar has sunk many a supplier.

It is a rough business. It’s a lot bigger than any one of us. Our ethical compasses may give us guidance, but we’re still working in constantly shifting terrain. As the internet continues to reduce the degrees of separation between producer and consumer, and between producers from country to country, fair-trade terrain will continue to shift. We will always be a work in progress.