Rustic Wire & Beads

Petra Naruses is the creative mind behind a range of wired, beaded and recycled light-fittings, lampshades, mobiles and decorative craft for the home. Using recycled material such as beer-bottle tops, caps, wire, bicycle tyres, makalani shells and old zinc sheets, Petra creates a remarkable variety of popular lampshades and light-fittings. Combining rural Namibian colour palettes (earthy browns, rusty reds, sandy tans) with bright, shiny wire-mesh or dulled rusted wire, lends an almost otherworldly ‘look and feel’ to the mobiles and light-fittings. The handmade light-fittings in particular are versatile enough to stylishly compliment the interiors of both chic urban and elegant, rural farmsteads. The natural materials (acacia seeds, old zinc, pips, pods, and driftwood) combined in the making of the mobiles, a welcome addition to any home, betray an artistically-oriented patterned organisation.

Namibia Italy Gems was founded by Sergio Chiesa, specializing in design and cutting of exotic pieces of handmade jewellery. Initially the company started with Makalani palm nuts sculpted into the iconic ladybirds, later moving on to cutting and polishing Namibian gem stones. Sergio mainly employs young and needy men and women, vulnerable unemployed youth and teach them to create intricate designs with Makalani jewellery and gem stones.

Grit Bottcher, a master goldsmith, started Ekipa Gold Design a little more than thirteen years ago. The designs found at her stall are very intriguing styles, combinations and compositions of handmade jewellery pieces, indicative of a particular aesthetic which has proved tremendously popular and enduringly stylish. Grit is a perfectionist and this quality manifests itself in the perfect geometry and smoothness of many of the jewellery pieces. Her particular aesthetic also lends itself to extremes and opposites: a sensuality incorporating the tactile and soft in material, combined with the cold hardness of silver, bronze, aluminium and gold. Her love for all things naturally Namibian lies at the core of every piece of jewellery, for example an enticing selection of fur-rings, springbok and Nguni hide fur-pendants, ostrich-shell pendants, seeds and recycled glass beads all set in either silver, aluminium or gold make for eye-catching, interesting jewellery with a fine.

Miracle Arts & Crafts is a relatively small stall in the Namibia Crafts Centre but what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for with a resplendent and truly amazing variety of small to medium sized handicrafts from every imaginable corner of Namibia. The woman behind this ‘tiny shopping mall’ of crafts is Elisabeth Hangara, a crafter herself. Elisabeth has a generous, curious and creative spirit which manifests itself in the depth of the range of crafts in the stall. Everything and anything you can imagine from ear adornments, bangles, postcards, greeting cards, handmade paper, Namibian flags and key-rings, scarves to hand-embroidered cushion covers, placemats, ceramics, wire craft, wood craft…the list is endless. She so thoroughly immerses visitors to her stall in the variety of craft products available in Namibia.