Virtuarte.com

As I have stated before one of my ongoing objectives is to have you get to know the artists and artisans whose products you see on our website. I have hosted a couple of "Meet the Artist" Events here in Washington, DC which a number of you have attended. For those of you who do not live in Washington area, I have been informed that a couple of our Artists will be participating in Trunk Shows in cities around the United States in March and April.

Over the last year one of the organizations I have gotten to know is Vital Voices. Vital Voices Global Partnership is a non-government organization that identifies, trains and empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs arond the world. They provide these women with the capacity, connections and credibility they need to unlock their leadership potential.

As many of you know last month I went to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market (Market), where I met Rebecca Lolosoli of Kenya. (see blog post dated 21 July 2009) Rebecca is the matriarch of Umoja Uso Women's Village, a community of women who were facing social and economic difficulties; abandoned by their families; or fleeing domestic violence, forced marriage, or genital mutilation. The women of this community create beautiful beadwork that was sold at the Market.

If you follow VirtuArte on Twitter (http://twitter.com/virtuarte) you would know that earlier this month I was in Santa Fe to attend the International Folk Art Market. While there I had the opportunity to meet Rebecca Lolosoli, a Kenyan artisan participating in the Folk Art Market. After talking to her for a while I found out she is a very remarkable woman.

On Sunday, the 8th of February, a day that felt like Spring was here, VirtuArte hosted its first "Meet the Artist" event featuring Elhadji Koumama. Elhadji is the patriarch of the Koumama Family and the ninth child of Mohamed Koumama, one of the most famous Tuareg silversmiths.

Some of you are probably thinking she must have started writing this post last week and forgot to change the title. I know the Presidential Election was last week. Who could forget. This is not a reminder for that election; it is a request for you to vote in another kind of election.

In my last post I talked about the need to help older girls and women who did not have the opportunity to get an education become active participants in their societies. A couple of weeks ago I spoke to a woman, Ann Elston, who is doing just that with the Koumama family. Her journey started in 2001 when her husband introduced her to Elhadji Koumama, a Tuareg silversmith living in Agadez, Niger.

In an earlier post I said many beautiful products made by artists/artisans in the developing world are located in countries and often in remote areas where their work is seen only by locals or a few tourists. Many of these items are being made by women who live in rural areas that are trying to earn an income to support their families and improve their quality of life. These products are frequently expressions of traditions and customs that are slowly dying out because there is insufficient incentive -- economical and cultural -- to pass these traditions/customs on to the next generation. I also said it was my belief that through the increased awareness of their art and the ability to generate an income, artists/artisans (men and women) would be encouraged and have an incentive to continue their traditional weaving, carving, sculpting, and painting and pass their skills onto the next generation.