These wonderful beaded animals and dolls are created by enterprising women living in the townships surrounding Capetown, South Africa. The work has come to us from a project to employ and empower women in the townships of Mandela Park, Khayalitsha and Phillipi. The MonkeyBiz Project provides each woman with the glass beads and pays cash for each doll or bag she produces. The 320 women and men currently participating in the project are producing a variety of one-of-a-kind dolls and bags. In designing and creating these artworks, the women draw on and renew the rich artistic traditions of their several ethnic groups - Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Sotho and others. In thse works the bead artists of the Cape townships are creating a new, often humorous and sometimes quite startling synthesis of folk traditions.
Note:
With the high cost of shipping many of our customers choose to ship by USPS. For small and light shipments this is usually less expensive, but please be aware that their estimates are often wrong and their service can be very slow (sixteen days for Priority Mail from Philadelphia to New York City recently). The service is not always as economical as it may appear, particularly on larger or more valuable shipments. USPS estimates only include insurance up to $100 for its domestic shipments. If you ask for full insurance we will recalculate the shipping cost and send you an invoice for any difference in cost. For overseas shipments USPS will not insure for over $650. On request we can get estimates for overseas shipping from DHL.
