Chantale Dovide, founder of aklala du Togo has been creating handmade batiked cloth using traditional wax techniques of West Africa for many years. Residing in Kpalime,home to one of the largest concentration of Togolese Artisans, she has begun to create a name for herself amongst the artisan community. Her carefully crafted cloth bags and accessories have been appreciated and demanded by many local tourists and volunteers from other countries. Her attention to current trends and styles while still preserving the traditional process of wax dying have begun to give her the leading edge in attracting new markets.
Due to the current economic climate of Togo, artists like Chantale continue to have problems expanding their enterprises at the rate seen in other developed countries. Hardships brought on by lack of financing, internal spending and family support have stifled the development of many artisan markets. They rely heavily on tourism to bring in outside monetary gain.
All of the products are created using time honored handcrafted techniques of fabric dying from Ghana, Togo and Benin. Working from her home with the help of five other women, they create all the beautiful prints from scratch. They mix the color, stamp or paint the cotton with wax then plunge the fabric into numerous dye baths to create vivid color combinations. The fabric is then laid on the ground to rest. After the color has set it goes through a hot wash to remove the wax then hung on the line to dry in the sun. Once dry, it is ironed to remove any leftover wax, then cut and sewn into bags, apparel and other creations. All steps of the process are done by hand, from heating the wax over coals to using a foot pedal sewing machine.
Due to methods which are labor intensive, the amount of product created is, at the moment, only sold locally. It is Chantale's hope that in the future she will be able to find the sources to meet the demands of an export market by way of time saving equipment and financial capital to buy materials in bulk for production. She would also like to open her own store front to showcase her products and attract more clients. Currently everything is done from her home, and occasionally showcased at local artisan centers and NGO offices.
At the moment, with the help of donor support she is purchasing raw materials to make product to debut at the Burkina Faso Artisinal Exposition this fall in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso www.siao.bf
Due to the current economic climate of Togo, artists like Chantale continue to have problems expanding their enterprises at the rate seen in other developed countries. Hardships brought on by lack of financing, internal spending and family support have stifled the development of many artisan markets. They rely heavily on tourism to bring in outside monetary gain.
All of the products are created using time honored handcrafted techniques of fabric dying from Ghana, Togo and Benin. Working from her home with the help of five other women, they create all the beautiful prints from scratch. They mix the color, stamp or paint the cotton with wax then plunge the fabric into numerous dye baths to create vivid color combinations. The fabric is then laid on the ground to rest. After the color has set it goes through a hot wash to remove the wax then hung on the line to dry in the sun. Once dry, it is ironed to remove any leftover wax, then cut and sewn into bags, apparel and other creations. All steps of the process are done by hand, from heating the wax over coals to using a foot pedal sewing machine.
Due to methods which are labor intensive, the amount of product created is, at the moment, only sold locally. It is Chantale's hope that in the future she will be able to find the sources to meet the demands of an export market by way of time saving equipment and financial capital to buy materials in bulk for production. She would also like to open her own store front to showcase her products and attract more clients. Currently everything is done from her home, and occasionally showcased at local artisan centers and NGO offices.
At the moment, with the help of donor support she is purchasing raw materials to make product to debut at the Burkina Faso Artisinal Exposition this fall in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso www.siao.bf
No comments:
Post a Comment