BEADED WIRE ART

African Authentics established a cooperative of beaded wire artisans in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. The group comprises of about 30 men and women.

The unemployment rate in the formal sector of Zimbabwe hovers around 70% so this development was a big economic relief to the members, some of whom are climate change refugees from villages where they can nolonger farm their small plots of land due to the unpredictability of the rainfall season.

There are three distinct phases to creating beaded wire art; frame creation, bead mixing and plastering.

During the framing phase, artisans cut galvanized wire using wire cutters then shape the frame or skelton of whatever the object at hand using pliers. Great skill is required for this phase as it determines the success of the whole project.

Most of the beads are purchased with one color in each bag and the artisans manually mix the beads. They then manually thread the beads onto a thin wire which they then manually attach to the frame to cover the skeleton during the plastering phase.

Some of the items we create include animals such as elephants, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, lions, monkeys, guerillas, pigs and more in the pipeline! We currently make beaded animals in two sizes; medium sizes and babies and the babies are by far more popular as they tend to fly off the shelf!

Other beaded wire art objects we make are key chains and baskets which we will soon add to our shop. We are also able to create custom objects and custom sizes.

Since each piece of beaded wire art is individually hand crafted from scratch, no two pieces are alike. You will notice slight variations in product sizes and bead distribution patterns. These variations are not defects but are the true marks of authenticity of all hand crafted items!!

The impact of the cooperative on the members’ lives has been enormous. Our artisans are able to sustain a decent livelihood and able to afford their families healthcare and a basic education for their children. Some have been able to build their own houses and move out of crammed rented dwellings. Others have been able to invest in grocery convenient shops to service the communities where they live.

We at African Authentics are proud to have had a hand at the uplifting of lives of our artisans and we are committed to doing more for the cooperative and the community.

Below are some of the artisans at work:

The Artists

Nomore

It all begins with an idea. Using galvanized wire and pliers, Nomore creates the skeleton or the basic shape of the animals, one at a time.
Senior beader

After manually mixing the different bead colors, the senior beader threads the beads onto a thin wire. The long strand of beads is then woven onto the frame.
Junior beader

The time consuming process of weaving the strands of beads onto the wire frame requires skill for the finished product to look polished.
The inspector

Each finished product goes through a rigorous inspection to make sure the workmanship meets our standards.