The BAT Craft Shop:
The BAT Craft Shop offers a comprehensive selection of African art and craft KwaZulu-Natal, alongside telephone wire baskets, rural carvings and basketry, traditional beadwork and pottery, handcrafted jewelery and painted textiles.This venue allows for the elimination of the “middle man”, as the craft items are priced by the crafters themselves.
The centre continues to avail its facilities for productive work with the previously disadvantaged artist communities. The retail outlet will focus on marketing the work of local crafters such as beadwork, traditional garments and fine art products. The move by the BAT to open such an outlet was born out of the needs raised by local craft organisations whose works can be found overseas. It is, however, disturbing to find that the agents or South African retail businesses who claim allegiance with these women have secured a wealth of income for themselves while the craft communities remain impoverished. Mot surprisingly, most of the passionate crafters are from rural backgrounds. The work they produce is strictly for the bread and butter issues, as a result their dealings with the retail “agent” always seems like a blessing because this creates an opportunity for a continuous production of work, therefore a continuous income.
It is well noted that according to the existing South African copy right laws, “the buyer is awarded full ownership of the product purchased”, this gives the buyer power to do as he pleases with the material bought. In short, a large number of westernised successful businesses have created a collection of factory-like empires of rural women who receive a pennies-worth for all their creativity. Most of the South African craft work is sold at exuberant prices in overseas countries.