Sometimes, I go somewhere, meet someone, or see something that makes it really difficult for me to keep my bum on my desk chair! Today is one such day – and before I go any further, I need to clarify that the special project in question is not one on one of my looms….. hope that has your interest piqued.
If you travel out of Hoedspruit towards Tzaneen ( my usual route to the smelly city), you will, at some point go past a little centre with a garage, and an OK convenience store and a truly enormous citrus nursery – this is ‘Letsitele’ – a blip on the map and if you blink you miss it.
Just past Letsitele you can turn right towards Giyane, and although I’ve never personally been to Giyane, I can tell you that approx. 9km along this road, on the right, in the middle of citrus production land, you will find the ‘Kaross’ project, and I would like to take a break from talking about weaving today to share the Kaross story with you.
I first visited Kaross many years ago, and, without knowing it, many of you will be familiar with their product. In fact, anyone who has paid a visit to any one of the Park shops in the Kruger, or bought a gift from one of the duty free shops at the airport selling ‘African’ interest goods will probably have come across the work of the Kaross ladies – and here is an example just to jog your memories:
You won’t be able to see from this photograph, but this wall hanging is actually embroidered – finely stitched by hand to an original design – I believe it would probably be called ‘naïve’ art from a design point of view, but there is nothing at all naïve about the quality of the product and the obvious skill of the worker who executed it.
Kaross was founded by Irma van Rooyen almost thirty years ago, and the story goes that during the citrus harvest she noticed that while the pickers were busy in the orchard, some of the women were sitting on blankets on the side taking care of all the children.
In the Tsonga language, a blanket is called a Kaross.
As many of us here in South Africa are, Irma was intensely aware of the hardships and deprivation faced by these ladies, and with the view to giving them the means to improve their situations, and keep themselves busy at the same time, she taught a small handful of them to do basic embroidery. Something they could work on at home, without having to leave their families unattended, and earn a small supplement to the household income.
The rest, as they say is history.
The project grew, using an ‘each one teach one’ philosophy, and the first ladies, taught others, who then taught still more, and the project is now a fully fledged industry giving an income to over a thousand women!
The women still work from home and return to the centre on a regular basis to bring completed work, and to collect more material and thread. The quality of their work is strictly controlled by everyone involved, and if it isn’t good enough, it isn’t accepted. New workers are nurtured
The finishing and making up of the items is carried out by a small nucleus of skilled workers who are employed at the project. The designs are printed onto the fabric using a silkscreen process – also carried out at the centre, and in very recent months, the centre has begun offering full time employment to a small group of ladies who have, very simply risen above the ordinary. These ladies carry out the special commissions and orders which continue to roll in and keep the project busy and productive.
No item seems to be too bit or too small, and they make everything – from small pouches, and bags, cushion covers, table runners and wall hangings, all the way up to full blown bedcovers. Each piece resonates with the culture and the surroundings of these women, and glows with vibrant colour.
I found myself going through a stack of placemats and thinking “ooh, I like the green ones – hmm maybe the blues are nicer, and these reds…….”! You get the picture?
The business is run and the marketing and promotions handled by Irma’s daughter Janine. I think that Janine might be related to an Octopus, because she is constantly juggling many balls – always with a laugh and a smile.
October marks the beginning of their ‘Meet the Makers’ month, and there is a small ongoing exhibition of work by local makers, and art by local artists. All beautifully arranged in the cool and tranquil gallery rooms that run off the garden restaurant. Well worth the visit.
If anyone of you is passing through ( on their way to Baroque in the Bush perhaps….?), I really do urge you to take the detour and pay a visit to this remarkable centre – and while you’re there, you can take the load off and enjoy a coffee, or a light meal in the verdant garden, before continuing on your way.
It is stories like this, and wonderful people like Irma and Janine, who continue to inspire me. People of compassion and vision and incredible energy, who simply said “We can do this”, and the set out to prove themselves right!
I am in awe – and I’ve had a lovely day, and am finding myself more inspired and motivated than I have been in quite a while!
