Dear Editor,
Having been involved in Jamaican art and craft since the late 1960s, I read your article 'Craft trade revival' with interest and confusion.
I was part of a significant revival of the craft industry in the early 1980s, opening Harmony Hall in Ocho Rios in 1981, and a sister establishment in Antigua in 1987, where we hosted local and regional craft fairs throughout the 1990s. The EU-funded Caribbean Export in Barbados assumed responsibility for the fairs, rebranding as the popular and respected Caribbean Gift & Craft Shows (CGCS).
In 1995, the same organisation hired me to produce a catalogue of Caricom artisans that became a seminal marketing tool throughout the region.
The momentum has now been lost. CGCS briefly became Caribbean Design and has been dormant for several years. The gift shop buyers from the major hotels in the region, once the major market for producers, for whatever reason, now find it easier and more convenient to buy cheap merchandise from China via gift shows in Miami.
The confusion came as I read further. On May 19 and June 6, I was invited to participate in a TPDCo/JBDC National Craft Workshop, with a proposed date of "late October/early November", only to receive a further e-mail on October 29 thanking me for my "support and interest in the planned National Craft Workshop. Notwithstanding, I have to advise that this activity has been put on hold until further notice owing to unforeseen circumstances".
Whilst the OAS involvement must be positive, with confirmation that mainly young people are being trained, my confusion deepened a few paragraphs later when an official stated that disillusionment resulted from not attracting many young people. The further comment in the final paragraph that there is a "lack of variety and poor quality of craft..." fills me with gloom.
Having trained people to produce, I very much hope that the OAS will now assist the artisans in the marketing of their products and encourage local retailers to buy Jamaican.
Annabella Proudlock
Managing Director
Harmony Hall Limited
info@harmonyhall.com
Quality craft is available
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Having been involved in Jamaican art and craft since the late 1960s, I read your article 'Craft trade revival' with interest and confusion.
I was part of a significant revival of the craft industry in the early 1980s, opening Harmony Hall in Ocho Rios in 1981, and a sister establishment in Antigua in 1987, where we hosted local and regional craft fairs throughout the 1990s. The EU-funded Caribbean Export in Barbados assumed responsibility for the fairs, rebranding as the popular and respected Caribbean Gift & Craft Shows (CGCS).
In 1995, the same organisation hired me to produce a catalogue of Caricom artisans that became a seminal marketing tool throughout the region.
The momentum has now been lost. CGCS briefly became Caribbean Design and has been dormant for several years. The gift shop buyers from the major hotels in the region, once the major market for producers, for whatever reason, now find it easier and more convenient to buy cheap merchandise from China via gift shows in Miami.
The confusion came as I read further. On May 19 and June 6, I was invited to participate in a TPDCo/JBDC National Craft Workshop, with a proposed date of "late October/early November", only to receive a further e-mail on October 29 thanking me for my "support and interest in the planned National Craft Workshop. Notwithstanding, I have to advise that this activity has been put on hold until further notice owing to unforeseen circumstances".
Whilst the OAS involvement must be positive, with confirmation that mainly young people are being trained, my confusion deepened a few paragraphs later when an official stated that disillusionment resulted from not attracting many young people. The further comment in the final paragraph that there is a "lack of variety and poor quality of craft..." fills me with gloom.
Having trained people to produce, I very much hope that the OAS will now assist the artisans in the marketing of their products and encourage local retailers to buy Jamaican.
Annabella Proudlock
Managing Director
Harmony Hall Limited
info@harmonyhall.com
Quality craft is available
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