Haitian vodou flag maker Dubréus Lhérisson is attending the Market for the first time this year, and our video explains a little of his approach to flag making, and his hopes for his time in Santa Fe. Together with David Boyer (also attending the Market for the first time this year), he has started a studio called “Kongo Laroze” where they develop their own unique style that utilizes recycled materials and found objects, including metals, textiles, old mirrors, buttons and thread.

We look forward to seeing Dubréus at the Market, and thanks so much to Marie Nicole St. Come for her translation work on the video.

SEWA Trade Facilitation Center (STFC) – an arm of SEWA,  the Self Employed Women’s Association – was formed in 2003 by more than 15,000 women artisans from the desert region of Gujarat, in western India.

STFC aims to empower poor women financially, helping them to create livelihoods for themselves and their families by selling their traditional embroidery.

The vision of STFC is to ensure that craftswomen have socio-economic security and full employment, by building a grassroots’ business enterprise for the artisans.

Here we talk to Reema Nanavaty, Director of Economic and Rural Development for SEWA, about the work her organization does, the impact it has on rural communities, and the role the International Folk Art Market Santa Fe plays in this.

Nanavaty was recently honored with a Padma award – the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India.

Sachiko Umi from the Market visited SEWA recently as part of one of the Market’s Passport to Folk Art trips, and she reports: “The women are unified, organized, and turning a traditional skill into a profitable means of sustainability. Their valuable skill has become an asset to the community, with their earnings allowing them to have suitable meals, educate their children, acquire health services, and implement rain water harvesting – providing for all around holistic development.”

“I was impressed by how they turn their traditional skills of folk art into a means of livelihood, create stability within their villages and reduce the cycle of migration, as well as pass down their skills and values to the younger generation. In a large meeting room, the women were assembled with their children alongside – and they had a unified voice in words, song and prayer.”

You can learn more about SEWA and its Trade Facilitation Center  at: http://sewa.org/

A collaborative project between the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market and CCA, our 2013 film series presents the beauty, challenges and inspiration woven into folk art. Join us in a celebration of cinema that reflects traditional cultures from around the world.

The series is produced by the International Folk Art Market – Santa Fe, with films curated by Emmy-winning writer-producer Kirk Ellis (JOHN ADAMS) and CCA Cinematheque Director Jason Silverman.

April 17 • Opening Night Party! — Devi (The Goddess)

5:30 p.m.  Tickets: $20

“Ray’s feeling for the intoxicating beauty within the disintegrating way of life of the 19th-century landowning class makes this one of the rare, honest films about decadence.” –Pauline Kael

Celebrate Indian culture with appetizers and chai from India Palace, a traditional Indian dance performance, an inspirational video message from Market participant Reema Nanavaty of India’s Self Employed Women’s Association, and a rare screening of Satyajit Ray’s masterpiece. Devi follows the story of Kalikinkar, an aging patriarch who dreams that his daughter-in-law Doyamoyee is an incarnation of the goddess Kali. After Kalikinkar insists the villagers worship her, Doyamoyee miraculously heals a sick child. Believers line up, and Doyamoyee begins to believe in her own powers. Despite its anti-establishment message, the gorgeous, haunting Devi won the prestigious President’s Gold Medal in 1961. (India, 1960, 97m, digital video courtesy of Janus Films)

May 15 • The Story of Qiu Ju

7 p.m.  $12

“Mr. Zhang’s keen and universal view of human nature raises his work far above its own visual beauty and into the realm of timeless storytelling.” –New York Times

Zhang Yimou, China’s greatest living filmmaker, tells the story of a young village woman (the radiant Gong Li) living in traditional ways. After a local official insults her husband, she travels to the big city in search of justice, navigating the baffling modern world. Zhang has created one of the most striking films about the challenges of contemporary China, featuring a keen sense of its rhythms and landscapes and providing a miraculous balance of the absurd and the poignant. (China, 1992, 100m, 35mm print courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)

June 12 • Central Station

7 p.m.  $12

“A richly tender and moving experience … Salles, like De Sica and Renoir, displays a pure and unpatronizing feel for the poetry of broken lives. His movie is really about that most everyday of miracles: the rebirth of hope.” –Entertainment Weekly

In Rio, the callous Dora (the legendary Fernanda Montenegro, nominated for an Oscar) writes letters for a parade of the poor and the illiterate. After hearing the story of a recently orphaned nine-year-old boy, she decides to take him on a search through the countryside for his father. In this Golden Globe-winning road movie, Walter Salles (MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, ON THE ROAD) shows us the peoples and cultures of Brazil—both traditional and modern—as you’ve never seen them, and celebrates our potential for rebirth. Followed by a pre-recorded Skype interview with director Walter Salles. (Brazil, 1998, 113m, 35mm print courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)

All films will be shown at the CCA Cinematheque

Advance ticket purchases encouraged online, these shows are likely to sell out.
1050 Old Pecos Trail • 505.982.1338 • ccasantafe.org

Dr. Manuel Montoya, Ahdina Zunkel and Shawn McQueen-Ruggerio

What part does social enterprise play in the world economy? Folk Art Market Executive Director, Shawn McQueen-Ruggerio and Market Artist Development Director, Ahdina Zunkel participated as honored respondents at a talk by Ashoka Lemelson Fellow, Greg Van Kirk on this very topic.

The talk was presented by International Business Students Global (IBSG) and the UNM Anderson School of Management in conjunction with the announcement of IBGS partnering with Van Kirk’s organization, the Social Entrepreneur Corp. The Corp works with social entrepreneurs in developing countries – work closely aligned with that of the Market’s.

Greg Van Kirk, Ashoka Lemelson Fellow and founder of the Social Entrepreneur Corp.

What is social entrepreneurship? Van Kirk defined it this way:

•  when earning a living also helps the community
•  when business opportunities have social impact
•  when profitability leads to social impact and not just money
•  when the endeavor involves persistence, creativity, innovation and value

“It’s not about what we do, but what we set in motion,” said Van Kirk, “taking an empathetic approach to working with people.”

What has the Market set in motion and how has its programming contributed to the advancement of social entrepreneurship?

• More than 650 Master artisans have participated in our Market
• 1.23 million lives have been impacted by the Market opportunity
• Over 10 years, artists sales exceeded $16 million, 90% went home with the artists and their organizations

In addition, the Market is working on its teaching model which focuses on business and marketing workshops for folk artists each year. Mentor to Market is a peer-to-peer knowledge exchange that not only brings professionals in the field to mentor the artists, but also allows the artists to mentor each other. For example, if a cooperative in Bolivia is struggling to find a way to manage their money, the Market could share what it knows about money management – but it prefers to connect them with a cooperative leader in Peru that has a successful model.

The Market’s participation in the UNM event is not the first collaboration between the two entities. In 2012, Dr. Manuel Montoya of the UNM Anderson School of Management and a group of philosophy and business students (members of The Poetics Project) conducted a study to identify factors contributing to the Market’s sustainability and success as an NGO.
Dr. Montoya says the students wanted to go beyond the typical study of an organization’s success. The students looked at profit and the ability of the Market to organize artists, but they also examined the significance of the event itself and the cultural phenomena it presents. The students tried to understand the Market as an educational institution – its curriculum, pedagogy, engagement and how the organization treats folk art. Dr. Montoya says that this is what sets the Folk Art Market apart.

“They (the Market) are tacitly aware of the great tension in the 21st century. What has been produced as a result of mass production, and what has been preserved by valuing what has been done by hand. As a community, they provide values and leadership in understanding those values, “ says Montoya. “There are very few other institutions who understand at that level what is going on.”

The Market looks forward to a continuing relationship with the UNM Anderson School of Management, International Business Students Global and the students involved in the Poetics Project.

Olivia Wilde with Rebecca Lolosoli. Photo by Jessica Chermeyeff as seen in “Vogue”

International Women’s Day has been observed since the early 1900s. Today it is a day to celebrate and honor the work of women who have raised their voices to fight oppression and who have given of their talents to make the world a better and equal place for all.   Although great strides have been made, there is more work to be done to bring economic, social and political equality to women around the world.

One way to do this is through economic empowerment. No one knows this better than Rebecca Lolosoli, a Folk Art Market artist and matriarch of the Umoja Uaso Women’s Village in Kenya.  The Village is a safe haven for women and girls fleeing abuse. The women not only provide for their children and themselves by selling their beaded jewelry, but also share resources including a disability fund, community center, and school.  Rebecca is one of many women making a difference and whose stories are told by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn in the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide – now a documentary film.

The film was shot in 10 countries: Cambodia, Kenya, India, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Liberia and the United States and features reporter Nicholas Kristof as well as celebrity advocates like America Ferrera and Oliva Wilde.

The Market has teamed up with The Lensic Performing Arts Center and New Mexico PBS to present a segment of Half the Sky on March 7, 2013, that includes Rebecca Lolosoli.  The screening will be followed by a panel presentation moderated by Ali MacGraw, featuring New Mexico women who are making a difference locally and worldwide.

For more information on the event please visit www.folkartmarket.org/halfthesky.

In addition, you have a chance to submit your questions for the panel via Facebook and Twitter. Send us a your question as a comment on Facebook or to @sffolkartmarket using the hashtag #IFAMpanel and Ali MacGraw may use your question the night of the event.

But since attending the first International Folk Art Market Santa Fe in 2004 artists’ group Lila Handicrafts has been working hard to create these opportunities, through the production and sale of their beautiful ralli quilts.

Learn more about the impact the Market has had on women and girls in the area in our video below, which includes comments from Surendar Valasai, co-founder of Lila Handicrafts.

Members of the Market community attended the formal launch of the Alliance for Artisan Enterprise at the U.S. Department of State, hosted by and in partnership with The Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, November 27, 2012.

As a founding member of the Alliance, the Market proudly joined with our fellow 22 founders and global stakeholders to announce the launch of this important, new public-private sector led alliance designed to support and grow artisan enterprise, improve livelihoods, sustain craft communities, preserve cultural heritage and contribute to sustainable economic and social development.

Over the last six months, we have been privileged to be involved with the initial planning and launch of the Alliance. Members of the State Department’s Office of Women’s Global Issues traveled to Santa Fe for the 2012 International Folk Art Market to meet with our staff, observe our Artist Training Programs, visit with artisans and learn more about our ten years of work with folk artists from around the world.  Joining the Alliance as a founding member was a natural extension of our mission to provide opportunities for folk artists to succeed in the global marketplace.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the developing world participate in the artisan sector. For many, their livelihood depends on income earned from their artisan activities. Behind agriculture, artisan activity is the second largest employer in the developing world. Yet, artisan enterprise has been under appreciated as a key driver of economic growth.

The Office of Women’s Global Issues at the State Department had been involved in carrying out the agenda of building the capacity and leadership of women, many often in areas of conflict, and connecting them with markets.  The artisan sector is a part of this and for some time they have wanted to find a way to raise awareness of the contributions of artisans to economic development and the health of a community.   As one staff member said during her visit to the Market, “This would not have happened without the Folk Art Market. It wasn’t until I came to the Market that it all clicked.”  As we sat around the table in the office of Marsha Bol, Director of the Museum of International Folk Art, the idea of forming an Alliance to raise awareness, and even the possibility of one day having the “International Day or Week of the Artisan” was born.

Judy Espinar from the International Folk Art Market, Greta Schettler and Natika Washington (both from the State Department) and artist Gasali Adeyemo at the launch of the Alliance

Besides the Folk Art Market, there are many artisan support organizations around the world (and now founding members), such as Hand/Eye Fund, ByHand Consulting, Global Goods Partners, Vital Voices and SERVV who have been working with and elevating the value of artisan work and contributing to the economic development and sustainability of artisan cooperatives worldwide. Now we are joined with retail corporations like west elm; investors; artisan entrepreneurs and enterprises like SEWA, Kandahar Treasure, Gahaya Links and Federation SAHALANDY; government and international organizations like UNESCO and USAID, with a specific interest in finding sustainable markets for artisan work. Together, as an Alliance, we have the opportunity to join forces, bring significantly more resources and address barriers on the supply chain in a ground up effort that is far more powerful and has a greater impact than each of our efforts alone.

This collaborative movement has already demonstrated the power of having the artisan voice at the table.  At the second planning meeting in October, around the topic of certification of artisan products, Joy Ndungutse of Gahaya Links, a founding member of the Alliance, said to the ethical sourcing representative of Walmart’s Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative, “It’s about how the artisan is treated.  Care about the person.  Respect them.  It’s not all about the money.  It’s about dignity.  My mother taught me to weave a basket sitting on the floor, not in a chair.  So don’t ask me to weave my basket in a chair.  We don’t want to change the culture—we want to work around it.  This Alliance can create a big impact between the buyer and the artisan.  For example, if you put the International Folk Art Market stamp on the product, then why wouldn’t west elm not buy it?”

Attendees at the launch of the Alliance for Artisan Enterprise

Gasali Adeyemo, indigo textile artist from Nigeria, who attended the launch said, “For me personally I especially liked the speech that Ambassador Melanne Verveer gave.  It motivated me as an artist and also made me want to encourage other artists who are struggling to get on their feet to let them know there are people out there who are trying to lift them up.”

Ambassador-at-Large for Women’s Global Issues, Melanne Verveer, stated in her address for the launch, “What the Santa Fe people told me at one point, was that when women come, (many of them are women, the majority)… but there are male artisans as well, they often can’t afford to travel from out of their countries to the United States and so their travel is taken care of so that these artisans can be showcased in this place that has the highest standard, and they told me, further, that the second time, nobody has to ask for travel money because they are doing so much better.  But if we were to amplify these collaborative efforts, where could we be where we aren’t today? Where could we be? What if governments, NGO’s, artisans, retailers and international organizations were able to partner and leverage each other’s strengths and resources more effectively to tackle those obstacles that are still there? The Alliance aims to do just that.“

Prior to the official launch of the Alliance, founding members were invited to attend Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s International Women’s Business Leadership Council Meeting where she announced the new Alliance to this group and had this to say about its importance, “Talent is universal but opportunity is not. And it’s often very humbling when you travel, as I’ve had the privilege of doing, and you meet extraordinarily innovative, creative, courageous, resilient women and men, and you see what they’ve been able to overcome, what they’ve done with their lives and you think about how disproportionately talent is stymied or catalyzed. And so really what we’re talking about is trying to narrow that talent and opportunity gap.”

The Alliance for Artisan Enterprise has ambitious goals, including new events, developing a database of best practices, launching an awareness campaign, and overcoming the barriers facing artisans and creating long-term markets.

If you care about this and would like to learn more about the Alliance for Artisan Enterprise or are interested in learning about membership opportunities, please visit their website.

We will have more exciting news to share about the Market’s collaborative work with the Alliance very soon!

Representing the Market at the Alliance for Artisan Enterprise launch event: Judy Espinar—Creative Director, Ahdina Zunkel—Director of Special Projects, Nella Domenici—Board Member and artist mentor, Gasali Adeyemo—Market indigo artist from Nigeria and Zarmina Hamidi and Mena Ayazi representing founding member, Kandahar Treasure from Afghanistan and founding member, Julie Koch-Beinke of Alternatives, graphic designer and artist mentor.

Shawn McQueen-Ruggeiro, IFAM Executive Director

The International Folk Art Market begins a new chapter in its 10th Anniversary year with a new Executive Director, Shawn McQueen-Ruggeiro.

Shawn joins us in Santa Fe from San Diego, California where, for the past eight years, she has worked with Project Concern International (PCI), a leading health and development organization. Her passion for art and her experience working in the developing world led her here, to the International Folk Art Market.

While at PCI, Shawn launched “Women Empowered”, a savings-based empowerment program designed to help the most vulnerable women in the world. She also led the organization’s re-branding effort and its 50th Anniversary celebration.  She recruited an impressive list of collaborators and influential supporters for PCI including: famed Peruvian economist Fernando de Soto; Kenneth Kaunda, the first democratically elected president of Zambia; Kenyan activist Wahu Kaara; musician and activist Bonnie Raitt; Zimbabwean international recording star Oliver Mtukudzi; and Mohammed Yunus.

Shawn finds inspiration in the incredible people she has met while working in the developing world – like William Kamkwamba. William created a windmill made out of found objects on his farm in Malawi and wrote the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.   Her proudest accomplishments have been the life-long friendships she has forged with beneficiaries like Tobias Tembo – a former street child from Zambia and now a graduate of the University of Zambia – and Pintuk Jha, the first graduate from PCI’s shelter home, who is now a student at a technical college in Delhi, India.

Shawn was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California and is an alumna of the University of California – Santa Barbara where she earned a bachelor of arts in history with a Latin American emphasis and a certificate in Global Peace and Security. She also holds a certificate in fundraising from UCLA. She began her career with the American Red Cross as a field representative in South Central Los Angeles and served as the public information officer and shelter manager during the civil unrest following the Rodney King beatings.  From there she went on to a fundraising positions with White Memorial Medical Center, the Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation and the Ocean Institute.

A self-described sufferer of “wanderlust”, Shawn continues to travel with her young family.  In fact, she’s been known to empty her suitcases to make room for folk art and other treasures found during her travels.  Her husband and two daughters will be following her here to New Mexico on her next big adventure. We hope you’ll join us in welcoming them to Santa Fe!

Janet Nkubana. Photo by Harvey Morgan II

Janet Nkubana is grateful. The co-founder of Gahaya Links in Rwanda, a group of women artisans whose basket-weaving has provided vital income for them following the Rwandan genocide of 1994, deserves gratitude herself from many people. But she’s clear that the International Folk Art Market has been instrumental in this amazing story of recovery and empowerment.

She puts it like this: “Thank you for being a beacon of hope to many of us, your support has touched so many lives in our country and has restored our dignity and values.”

Rwandan women have for centuries passed on to their daughters the skills to weave baskets using a variety of organic reeds and grasses, and carrying designs with longstanding cultural meanings.

Following the genocide, Gahaya Links was founded as a way of turning Rwanda’s ancient basket weaving tradition into a source of livelihood for the rural women who found themselves without any means of support.

Inyumba Aloysea is one of the women helped in this way. She survived the genocide against the Tutsi together with her two siblings, but lost her parents. She joined the weaving group in her village to be able to sustain the family she now found herself in charge of, dropping out of school to take care of her siblings and a cousin.

Through her weaving Aloysea has managed to raise the children, taking care of their school necessities and building a small house in their village. She’s also bought goats which she is breeding for sale.

Through sales at the International Folk Art Market, many other weavers have seen a similar impact on their lives, and those of their families. ” One of the cross-cutting impacts among the artisans is improving the well being of their families,” says Joy Ndungutse, Janet’s sister and Gahaya Links’ other co-founder. “The majority of them have put electricity in their homes, bought cows or started small business like grocery stores. . . Those who lived in grass thatched houses have roofed them with iron sheets, and they now sleep on mattresses with mosquito nets,” she explains.

But the positive effect goes beyond the immediate families of the artisans. “Most of the weavers are involved in decision making positions in their communities and have contributed a lot to the reconciliation,” continues Janet.

“Most of the them have bank accounts and are credible clients; this economic empowerment has boosted their confidence and they have acquired bank loans and their investment is growing and they are now contributing to the economic growth of the country through paying taxes.”

One of the weavers to take on a broader role in her community is Dusabimana Ruth. A mother of three, her husband is out of work, so the entire family depends on Ruth’s income. Since joining Gahaya Links she has been able to repair and extended their home, and buy two cows. In addition, she is now an opinion leader in her village, playing a pivotal role in unity and reconciliation in her village as a jury member in the Rwandan traditional Gacaca courts.

As well as the direct economic impact of attending the Market, Gahaya Links has also seen other benefits. “Participating in the Market has increased our clientele,” Joy explains. “We have received orders from several museums and gift stores that came to the Market. We also get visitors coming to our showroom looking for the baskets we sell at the International Folk Art Market. The Market has given our products value. ”

The less tangible impact is also important, argues Janet. “The Market teaches you how to give back to communities, and the teamwork from the board, organizers and volunteers taught us how to work together and be there for each other.”

And she has a clear message for the Market’s supporters: “Your support has restored dignity and hope to many of Rwandans who lost their families during the 1994 genocide. Our children are in school and Rwanda has hope for future leaders.”

This holiday season, share your passion and hope by giving a gift that changes lives. Send your loved one an e-card that restores dignity to women and preserves traditions around the globe.

Orijyn artisan, Bandith Ladpakdy

Having a sense of belonging and community is something for which we all can be thankful. For the artisans of Orijyn and the Saoban cooperative in Laos, the Market provides a community that spans the globe.  From the inspiration provided by a network of fellow artisans, to the tireless determination of Market staff and volunteers, to the positive reinforcement from enthusiastic Market patrons – Orijyn’s artisans find strength, belonging, pride and a shared appreciation of the importance of handicrafts in sustaining culture and tradition. It’s the people in the Market community for whom they are the most thankful.

“Since our acceptance into the show, the Santa Fe Folk Art Market has been a blessing,” says Mark Sloneker of Orijyn. “It was not just the great sales, though the sales have been very helpful in building revenue. It’s the network that has long-term value.”

Orijyn first brought its exquisite silver jewelry from Laos to the Market in 2009.  Orijyn works with PADETC, a non-profit school in Laos that houses Saoban, a silversmith cooperative working to preserve traditional art forms by teaching a younger generation and providing education and healthcare to artisans.

Sloneker says the Market community has raised the credibility level of Orijyn’s artisans and increased the confidence of prospective wholesalers in the cooperative’s ability to develop and maintain professional business relationships. The increase in revenue from direct sales at the Market, twenty new wholesale relationships, catalog and online sales with National Geographic and two large orders from QVC have had a direct impact on the lives of artisans and their families in Laos.

The new revenue has enabled Orijyn to train new staff and add 50+ artisans to the Saoban silversmith group.  Its new microloan program is providing supplies to artisans that cannot afford to make the initial investment in materials.  Programs to teach accounting and co-op development, as well as basic healthcare have all increased.  It has opened a store in Vientiane to capture the tourist trade and develop the Saoban brand. Sloneker is proud to report that the store is both self-sustaining and generating new wholesale customers from around the world.

Students and artisans with the Saoban handcraft division of the PADETC

The Saoban handcraft division is leading the way for the other divisions within PADETC – becoming a profit center and a model for supply chain development, branding and marketing.  The managers are now teaching other Lao entrepreneurs how to build and sustain a business.  Orijyn and Saoban are reaching their goals through the support and assistance of the Market community.

“We now have lifelong friends around the world,” says Sloneker. “We share our experiences and trials, and offer each other support and ideas to improve the work we do. We don’t feel alone in our endeavors”.

Without a doubt, a community to be thankful for.