12/13/2021
Hiiiii!
Thanks for taking the time to look at our page 🤎
We are Elefant Grass, an arts & crafts/ interiors shop working exclusively with African artisans.
Our founder, Nana (.ma ) is a British-born Ghanaian woman who grew up in a household that celebrated African art. Her father collected pieces from across the continent through decades of travel and exploration.
The value and mastery of this work was never in doubt. Yet, historically, the mainstream narrative of African produced goods has typically made them synonymous with being “cheap”. Unpopular opinion BUT a feature of capitalism/colonisation is to claim the worth of something is much less than it is, to extract as cheaply as possible and therefore increase profits at the end..
Today however, we are witnessing a renaissance in African art, from outside of the continent. African fine artists and sculptors are THRIVING in the international art world and we love to see it.
Elefant Grass has been created as a platform to create further access to the master skills of African weavers and other artisans. Our goods are meticulously handmade and the techniques used are centuries old - there’s currently no technology to produce these items by machine.
We work ethically and sustainably with our artists. This means paying significantly more than fair trade prices for goods (cos that’s a ruse too) and we provide the resources to support our team in working comfortably - this includes the provision of raw materials, factoring in time spent on production and not just the end product, and skills development with esteemed masters.
So, if you’re down with our mission, please support our page..
Our website with our products will be launching soon 🌳
