Glimpt of South Africa : designers arbete med hantverkare i andra länder

The ways designers work with craftsmen in other countries can vary alot,but still there are many similarities. In this study we make comparisonsbetween a number of projects involving three different designers and artisansin other countries and parallel that to our own work in South Africa.What we have seen is that there is some common denominators betweenthe different projects that are being taken care of in different ways.Some things that commonly attract the designers seem to be the skills ofthe craftsmen, as well as their colouring, patterns and materials. A furthercommon denominator in the projects is that people’s perception of qualityhas become an important issue. The products that are being developedare often sold in the country of the designer, and therefore a needto insure that the quality of the products is up to the standards expectedin that certain country has occurred. These standards often seem to differfrom those in the country of the artisan.We have noticed certain differences between the concept of the projectscompared to their effectiveness in generating jobs. In some cases theconcept of the project is of greater importance to the designers, whereasin others it seems more important that the projects generate work for theartisans.Other quite remarkable differences between the projects are the waysthat the designers control the work. In some cases the designer havedecided everything from material, shape, colouring to patterning. In otherprojects the designer works rather as a mentor who lets the artisan workand develop his or her product more freely.Last, but not least, we have seen that there are other values taken intoaccount in terms of social aspects in these projects. The ambition is totake care of crafts in different ways, to create cultural exchange, or tocreate more jobs for the craftsmen, and even create solidarity withinthe different artisan groups, or to get the work into a fairtrade context indeveloping countries