Making a living from artwork

By Shirley Genga

When Anne Nzilani got into the beadwork industry, she had one goal — to transform the lives of marginalised producers, especially women, from a life of abject poverty to that of economic prosperity and social fulfilment.

To achieve this goal she formed an organisation called ‘Bawa la Tumaini’. The producers Bawa la Tumaini works with, especially women, often lack the means to produce and sell products to better paying Western markets. Middlemen who often exploit them, deny them the basic human right to "quality living", thus confining them to the slums.

Nzilani’s Gallery

Her job involves product development, designing, production, teaching the women how to make the jewellery, identifying designs with market potential and promoting products to customers, as well as teaching the women costing and pricing. When teaching, Nzilani goes where the women groups are. If they are in Kibera, that is where she will go to teach them.

In vogue

"When making jewellery you just can’t make anything you feel like, you have to learn the different fashion trends, know what is in vogue and what is not. And when making jewellery for sale abroad, it is my job to know what seasons are being experienced there. For example, when it is winter customers prefer dark earth colours to blend in with the season, so most of the jewellery will be in earthy colours. If necklaces with big beads are in fashion, then it is my job to design jewellery with big beads and instruct the women groups on the designs," says Nzilani.

She says when marketing your products, one has to have great networks for not only outsourcing raw materials, but for selling the products when they are complete. A big plus for Nzilani is the fact that she is experienced in the export process, having worked with buyers from the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Australia, Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK. She has also worked on design projects with key international designers and design universities including design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands and Cardenal Herrera CEU in Spain.

"Before the greatest challenge when it came to making Kenyan traditional jewellery was lack of a market, but over the last couple of years more Kenyans have begun to appreciate local jewellery. Now the biggest challenge is acquiring some of the materials. For instance, when we export our products, most of our customers abroad demand ‘nickel free’ ear hooks, but we don’t have them in Kenya and the few shops that sell them are very costly so we are forced to outsource the work. This is a sad scenario because it is a job that could have benefited someone here. Other times you want particular colours of beads, but can’t get them and some materials are just too expensive. If you want original amber it will cost you a lot of money," she explains.

Nzilani says despite some of the hurdles, the Kenyan market for Kenyan jewellery is growing tremendously.

Another Kenyan designer, Vaishali Morjaria, whose jewellery stands out as one of Kenya’s brilliant artwork, also believes that slowly the Kenyan market for local jewellery is gaining momentum.

Ms Morjaria holds a Masters degree in jewellery/silversmith and related products and has been involved in beadwork jewellery professionally for four years. Hers is contemporary jewellery and she experiments with materials other than just precious materials and stones, which also enables her to practice her carving techniques.

To save on cost and to widen her market, she chooses to work with beadwork made out of local materials like glass, plastic and metal.

"I feel we are such a rich country where these materials have a distinction as well as the traditional jewellery, which has influenced the whole world and left its mark. Doing beadwork can be challenging if you decide to pick on materials that are not easily or readily available locally. Also, doing more beadwork instead of an expensive stone allows my jewellery to be widely available to all age groups at competitive prices," she says.

Market trends

Morjaria, who is also a full time teacher, decided it was not practical to have her own workshop because it is a bit expensive and time consuming to maintain.

"Since I do not have a workshop for metalwork or beadwork, I rely on beads made by other local producers. I get beads that are beautifully made and design jewellery with a contemporary essence to it," she says.

She reckons that beadwork never goes out of fashion for the Kenyan market. The best part, though, is that every one can afford various styles.

In order to keep your clientele, Morjaria believes one needs to first know the market trends, learn to interpret what their clients want and need, be creative, and most importantly, have work that stands out from the rest.

"In order to stamp both my rich African and Indian heritage in my work, I found henna to be so inspirational and the perfect thing to make my work stand out. Henna is originally African, but was applied by Indians who gave it various patterns. Now I have changed the concept of it to represent Africa internationally in a manner never projected before. I use it as my logo on fabric, metal, paper, and beads," she says.

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