Fabric painting - Import export

Rita Bankie, a qualified teacher from Ghana started to explored her innate appreciation for vibrant colour, quality fabrics and established Lord ‘J’ Dyeing House in 1996. With three seamstresses and coupled with a steely determination to present customers at the stall in the Namibia Craft Centre with high quality products, Lord ‘J’ Dyeing House offers an array of fabric-based goods unique and rare in design. In addition to fine kente cloth from the Ashanti Kingdom in Ghana, they also stock a variety of hand-painted fabrics, carefully selected by Rita, who utilises her trained eye to identify outstanding talent and workmanship. The fabrics are either sold per piece or value-added with decorations, cut and sewn into dresses for children, utility bags, cushion covers, table runners, tablecloths, potholders, placemats, shirts and apparel for adults. Lord ‘J’ offers a fascinating variety of African fabrics and high-quality, 100% cotton products.

The quirky charm of Maid in Africa lies in its distinctly modern and rural African narrative. More than anything the everyday images, such as shebeens, bottles of Marmite and cans of sardines, carefully reproduced on the bright, hand-painted fabrics are accompanied by amusing and humorous African sayings, a tongue-in-cheek twist added to the regularity of contemporary African life. Andrew and Micha Weir started Maid in Africa in 2006 after their domestic worker, Priscilla, was diagnosed with HIV. They were forced to watch helplessly as her condition worsened even though Priscilla expressed a desire to continue being productive. Micha Weir showed Priscilla how to silk-screen paint and produce hand-painted fabrics. Tragically, Priscilla succumbed to AIDS in 2007 but her passing inspired the Weirs to spread a wonderful, celebratory message, including immortalising Priscilla’s smiling image as ‘Maidonna’ on a variety of surfaces and a range of beautiful.