The craft industry in South Africa: a review of ten years of democracy.

The craft industry has seemed to promise much to a transforming South Africa. A sprawling and highly varied collection of activities that straddle the first and third world economies, the cram industry is peculiarly representative of the more general challenges and opportunities faced by South Africa ten years into democracy. In a country that competes with Brazil for the dubious distinction of having the widest gap between rich and poor in the world (a gap that continues to widen), the craft sector appeared to offer an opportunity not only to deliver large numbers of impoverished people into the promised land of "A Better Life for All," (1) but also to afford politically attractive possibilities of creating a new cultural identity in the context of globalization (Figs. 1 and 2).

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Yet transformation has in many respects been a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the country's rapid transition from pariah state to model democracy has led to a massive influx of tourists. A favorable exchange rate and South Africa's substantial and diverse natural and cultural assets have lured foreign visitors curious about--and sympathetic to--the process of transformation: in short, ideal consumers for local craft products. On the other hand, the "South African miracle" also brought with it some hard realities for local producers--most significantly, a sudden influx of successful craft producers and entrepreneurs from the rest of Africa, supplying large quantities of cheap, aggressively positioned craft and curio produce. Having little or no prior exposure to international consumers and markets, and a weak entrepreneurial base, local producers have been poorly positioned to compete effectively with this skilled, energetic, and resourceful wave of legal and illegal immigration. (2)

The African National Congress government's first significant piece of policy development pertaining to the arts appeared in the 1996 White Paper for Arts, Culture, and Heritage. (3) The document emphasized this sector's potential for creating jobs and income, together with the need for government to play a coordinating and promotional role within it. As a result, the Department of Art and Culture (DAC), in its 1997 Cultural Industries Growth Strategy, formulated "craft" as one of the four pillars of potential economic growth, alongside music, publishing, and film. (4)

The fundamental obstacle to the growth of the industry that this (and subsequent) research identified has been the absence of any meaningful interface between producers and markets. This is seen in both the inability of the majority of craft producers to adapt their work, modes of organization, and production to market demands and opportunities, and the fact that the majority of craft producers struggle to eke out a living far removed--both geographically and conceptually--from real or potential markets. The poor performance of the sector has been compounded by the gradual fragmentation and loss, in the course of the twentieth century, of cultural traditions and practices. Initially, this loss was fuelled by a migrant labor system that encouraged highly skilled male crafters to seek employment in the mines and the cities. But it can also be ascribed in part to the impact of Christianity on rituals commonly associated with the production of beadwork and other indigenous art forms. In the face of this erosion of cultural capital, the creative foundation for producing saleable crafts has been considerably reduced.

Over the last five years, a range of public and private sector initiatives has been launched to address these problems (Figs. 3a and 3b). One of the DAC's biggest achievements to date has been the securing of significant funding (over R64 million, approximately $10 million, during the course of 2001-2003) from the National Treasury's Poverty Alleviation program. These funds have been applied to a wide range of projects and initiatives within the sector under the mantle of the Investing in Culture program. An important area of intervention has been the development of projects aimed at retrieving cultural heritage and traditional craft practices (Fig. 4 and Cover). To date, the most notable example has been the Northern Province Special Project, which sponsored researchers to investigate traditional practices and mount an innovative exhibition aimed at schools and communities.

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Attention has also been given to fostering cohesion and cooperation among craftspeople through the promotion of industry and networking events. A key initiative in this regard has been the Craft Imbizo, (5) an annual event (inaugurated in 2001) aimed at bringing the South African craft producers and entrepreneurs together with a view to sharing experience, while at the same time affording the government opportunities to consult with the sector on development strategies. Events like these have also been used to showcase the successful development of craft products and projects and to provide marketing and direct-selling opportunities for producers. Further spin-offs of the Investing in Culture fund include the establishment of EzamaXhosa, a subsidized retail outlet in Port Elizabeth that connects Eastern Cape craftspeople with local and international buyers; and the production of an information directory and handbook for craft producers by the Craft Council of South Africa that provide crafters with comprehensive information on business development, methods of access to government support agencies, and a detailed database of craft development organizations, service providers, associations, and materials suppliers.

Government investment has also strengthened existing and emergent support agencies. Among these is the Craft Council of South Africa, an NGO established in 1991, which has played a valuable role in facilitating training and promotional opportunities, gathering information on the craft sector, and disseminating information to craftspeople through a quarterly publication. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research has been supported in developing and testing new approaches to craft development in rural communities, which involve nurturing products and enterprises informed by an auditing of the human resources and cultural and natural assets resident in particular communities. The Cape Craft and Design Institute (CCDI) was established in 2001-2002 at the Cape University of Technology with substantial investment from provincial government, and provides a range of training and business development services to craft producers and the craft retail sector in the Western and Northern Cape. (6)

CREATE SA is another important DAC initiative undertaken in partnership with the Media, Advertising, Printing, Publishing, and Packaging Sector Education and Training Authority. This project has secured R117 million (around $18 million) from the Department of Labor's National Skills Fund for a three-year cycle extending from 2003-2005, which has led to the development of accredited work-based training programs (known as learnerships) in the areas of craft production, enterprise development, operations management, and product development. CREATE SA works in close cooperation with existing programs and initiatives, one of the most successful instances being its intervention in the Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park, where residents' employment opportunities are severely limited by poor infrastructure, HIV/AIDS, and lack of basic education.

CREATE SA has brought together rural women producers and young art and design graduates to develop innovative, high-value product lines that are responsive to local and international design trends and niche markets. In addition, this initiative seeks to ensure that these women can both continue to use skills that have been passed down for generations and earn a living wage. The young designers acquire a deeper understanding of materials from the craftspeople, which in turn informs their input on product development. One of the critical outcomes of the program has been the cultivation of a new generation of skilled cultural brokers-cum-product developers capable of working sensitively within the context of rural development. The project has also addressed the issue of the environmental impact of craft production through the use of waste / recycled materials and the development of agricultural programs for the production of natural fibers (such as the ilala palm for basket-weaving). Rural producers are also given the opportunity to travel to urban centers to meet buyers, visit retail markets, and connect with a larger context of taste, trend, and consumption.

Despite the success of these programs, they still must confront several challenges, such as their tendency to emphasize supply-side measures. This weakness has been exemplified by difficulties in achieving cohesion between DAC programs and those of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the key government department responsible for promoting the demand side of the craft development equation. Although longstanding proposals for the establishment of a National Craft Trading House and a Craft Export Council have yet to bear fruit, the DTI has played an important role in cosponsoring both public sector initiatives such as the Craft Imbizo and private sector trade shows aimed at the interior decor markets, such as Decorex and the recent One of a Kind exhibition at the Sandton International Convention Center in Johannesburg (Fig. 5).

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If the positive achievements of the past ten years are to be consolidated, three critical issues will have to be addressed: the development of clearer institutional arrangements for craft development, a more strategic focus on strengthening the skills base in the craft sector, and greater sensitivity to appropriate models for developing craft production. One key means of bringing greater coherence to craft development in South Africa would be to establish a statutory body capable of coordinating existing policies, programs, and projects across relevant government departments and between the public and private sectors. This body could also play a critical role in promoting best practices and acting as a watchdog against exploitative practices. One of the other issues that such a body would need to address is the critical shortage of skilled people and agencies able to provide support to craftspeople in these various areas--the human resources to grow the human resources, as it were. At present, there is often a serious mismatch between the scale and ambitions of public sector plans and budgets for craft development on the one hand and the capacity of the existing reservoir of expertise to implement these plans on the other.

But perhaps more importantly, the underlying purposes of craft development in South Africa need to be thought about more carefully. In his sensitive analysis of craft development models in South America, Walter F. Morris (1996) explores some of the implicit tensions between social and cultural imperatives and the economic bottom line in approaches to craft development. Morris compares a streamlined business model pursued by a small ceramics enterprise in Honduras, in which a hierarchy of producers and ancillary workers earn good money but feel little identification with the products they produce, with a Mexican collective of traditional weavers who earn below the minimum wage (in spite of governmental subsidy), but who are nevertheless deeply invested in and proud of the products they produce, and bound closely together as a cultural community as a consequence.

The point is not that either of these approaches is a better or worse model for craft production and business, but that each is sustained through a different framework of meaningfulness and purpose. The massive political pressure on the South African government to deliver economic empowerment, growth, and employment to its citizens has arguably led to the privileging of an economic bottom line in the government's thinking about craft--reducible to the simple equation of "craft" with "money and work"--and there appears to be an underlying assumption that government investment must translate into self-sustaining craft businesses. The emergence of a more nuanced and context-sensitive framework represents a long-term challenge for governmental policies and programs relating to craft development in South Africa.

[This article was accepted for publication in June 2004.]

This article has benefited from conversations with a range of individuals who have given generously of their time and insights: Joseph Mathe, Erica Elk, Dawn Robertson, Steven Sack, and Susan Sellschop. Errors of tact, fact, and judgement remain my own.

(1.) African National Congress election slogan.

(2.) An audit of craft assets in the Western Cape, which enjoys the largest influx of tourists to South Africa, estimated that only 10% of craft produced and sold in retail outlets in that province was made by local producers (Kromberg and Elk 2001:9)

(3.) This document was published by the Department of Art, Culture, Science, and Technology. In 2003, the Department was separated into two ministries, the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST). For ease of reference, both avatars of the national government competence for arts and culture are referred to as "DAC" within this article.

(4.) The contrast between the craft sector--a labor-intensive, largely informal, and highly dispersed industry--and the other three knowledge-intensive and relatively well-organized industries is important. The craft sector is arguably something of a black sheep in this industry cluster, the other three areas being more easily addressed through central government interventions, incentives, and programs.

(5.) The Xhosa word imbizo means "pot," referencing the role of food and cooking as a central element within traditional gatherings and meetings to discuss matters of communal importance.

(6.) The CCDI is engaged in the generation and dissemination of meaningful information about the craft sector at a regional level through systematic research into the size, shape, and structure of the craft industry in the Western Cape. It is establishing a database of producers and products and is involved in disseminating information on promotional and export opportunities and events and product and business expertise to crafters.

References cited

Kromberg, S., and E. Elk. 2001. Craft 2003--A Craft Development Strategy. Unpublished document prepared for the Department of Arts, Culture, Science, and Technology. Cape Town: Turnstyle Media.

Morris Jr., Walter E 1996. Handmade Money: Latin American Artisans in the Marketplace. Washington, DC: Organization of American States.