|
ONLINE VERSION |
|
|
PRINT VERSION |
|
Attractive handicraft bazaar at Cifte Amam
The creative power filled up the old bath
Katerina Bogoeva
At the Chifte Amam in the Old Skopje Bazaar, 65 craftsmen from the country, organized by the Macedonian Trade and Artisan Association – MATA, were selling their products between 8-10 December at the traditional handicraft bazaar. The bazaar was supported by several private companies, as well as the City of Skopje and UNHCR. On the stalls, the artisans sold wonderful, impressive and worthy pieces of philigrane, carvings, icons, copper items, glass, wool, knitted products, musical instruments, etc. It was interesting to see how the confidence of the artisans in the country has grown in comparison with last year when selling the things they had made themselves. We also noted an increased interest among the customers, many of whom were foreigners.
At the very entrance, the organizers exhibited colorful items of children clothes, knitted bags and rucksacks for adult people made by Roma women, refugees from Kosovo, who temporarily live in the Skopje settlement of Sutka. Their participation in the bazaar was enabled by the Refugee Agency – UNHCR in Macedonia, from where women got the necessary material for knitting. The products were being sold by young, smiling girls who were happy for the interest aroused with the buyers. The bazaar is only one of the places where at which the existing Committee for WOMEN Refugees displays and sells its products, which are usually bought by foreigners. On the next stall, they displayed products made by the representatives from the Multiethnic Center for Handicapped People, “Talant”. Impressive postcards, candles showing Santa, items made of wood were all shining while the young cute members of the Centre were selling them. They were also selling items made of glass by deaf girls. The center “Talant” has also realized workshops designed for the deaf for making wood and metal products, with financial help for printing on the handmade paper items which attracted the customers’ attention.
Among the artisans was Fadil Latifovikj who was selling wooden sculptures in the shape of the human body made of only one piece of wood. Satisfied wit the selling conditions, he emphasized that the wood for making the sculptures originates from Macedonia, Greece and Turkey and that the same buyers come to him every year to buy new sculptures.
We also noticed the stall displaying ceramics items, unattractive only at first glance, of Armine Pilojan – Vrtevska, an Armenian woman married in Macedonia. He was awarded this year’s certificate for most successful newcomer. “I have been living in Skopje for two years, I have a degree in linguistics, and I make the ceramic products at home. The Armenian technology of making the products, the baking and the painting are different from those in Macedonia. I can say that these type of products are still widely used in Armenia”, said Pilojan, showing us the beautiful products she had made.
In one of the small exhibition rooms in the Amam, they displayed objects made of hammered iron by the blacksmith’s workshop Hammer from Veles, and in one of the two big round rooms, in which the power of artisans creativity could be felt, among the various products, participants were exchanging their experiences and sharing their personal stories on the motives for their work, and one could see the satisfaction on the faces of the makers.
Stanka Dimitrova, who was selling hats and scarves designed by her, emphasized that the foreign buyers are most interested in the unique items with folk motives, especially men’s socks. After she had finished her professional service as a statistics officer, she rediscovered her great love towards the art and started knitting. The artists Elena Trpkova and Dejan Ivanov exhibited their wonderful pieces of glass, Christmas tree decorations and many other home decorations. At the company ARTE they work on big glass surfaces, but they say that the participation on the bazaar was an additional incentive for them to develop their creativity. “MATA” motivated us to make these items we sell. They invited us to participate, and then, the ideas came one after another”, said Trpkova.
The women association Agrovinka from Vinica, was selling products made as part of the project “Tradition and Innovation”, financed by the Norwegian government. Within the project, the women, besides the two traditional Istibanja region folk costumes, made a collection of filtz hats and slippers. “Young people like the hats, they fid the design interesting, and in December, our products are also sold at the big Fair in Milan. As artisans, we want to open a shop in Skopje where we would continuously sell our product with a small margin. However, for that idea to become true, we need support from the authorities”, says Vaska Petrov from Agrovinka. Some of the artisans in the Bazaar say that they had exhibited wherever there was need for that. Some of them are afraid to open a shop, and we also heard that the unemployed mostly work at home and are assisted by their family members to sell the products.
“Rajska ptica” is the name of the art studio owned by Mile and Tode Veljanovski, woodcarvers , who sell their works in art galleries, where, as they say, the prices are three times higher and reject the buyers. Therefore, they think it is necessary to open a shop where the artisans will sell their products. “In the past, we used to sell more; this year, although we did not increase the prices, it is clear that the economic power of the buyers is worse”, say the father and the son, the followers of the traditional craft. In their opinion, the buyers need to be made interested in their carving, but they also need to have love, desire and money.
The artisans ask the mayor Trifun Kostovski for a shop in the Bezisten
The Association of Women – Housewives participates in the Bazaar for the fifth time. “We are members of “MATA” and through them, we export our works abroad”, said the association president Lile Lakikj. She also mentioned the help they get for designing, working on MATA projects. This association organizes courses in knitting, and making beads. They are one of the loudest in their request for opening the already mentioned artisan shop that would open in the Bezisten in the Old Skopje Bazaar. Although they have lodged their request to the mayor of Skopje, Trifun Kostovski, so far they have not managed to contact him and present their idea in person.
Among the stalls in the bazaar was the one of Efremovski family from Probistip that sold carded wool. They were awarded special certificate for the best product.
In the three days of the Bazaar, Cifte Amam was filled with expected, but also unexpected art products which speak of the great creativity among citizens. One could see the photographs taken by the photographer Atanas Tanevski from Ohrid, the wooden objects made by Ivan Serafimov, the Ohrid Pear of the Talevi family from hid, the products sold by the Albanian Women Forum, The Macedonian Woodcarving Association and others, and, Metodija Zlatkov from the association “Dozdovnik” in Delcevo was the only person who sold folk musical instruments, like different kinds of pipes, bagpipes, etc.
The artisan bazaars possess specific warmth that can only be experienced, different from the one of the places where industrial products are sold. The interest for this type of products is growing, which is a good signal not only for their makers, but for the country’s development that is based on the creative sprit of its citizens.
|
|
|
|
|
