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Excerpted from Natural Health Magazine, January, 2004
By R. Daniel Foster
A vast world of personal and home décor, steeped in personal history and cultural tradition, is finding its way into American homes. To search out these treasures, you don't need a passport, a water purifier or a fresh supply of Dramamine. Even world-savvy travelers are realizing that thousands of far-flung prizes are just a mouse click away.
In response to an increasing homogenous society, there's a growing desire to seek out creations of individuality and substance. Given the choice, frequent flyers and Web jockeys alike are passing up T-shirts, plastic mugs and other inauthentic "souvenirs" for genuine art and artifacts that are tactile, beautiful, handmade and connected to an identifiable location: pashmina shawls from India, African mudcloth, Balinese clove baskets, Thai spirit houses, or silver jewelry from Brazil.
It's a "hunger for authenticity," says Armenia Nercessian de Oliveira, a former United Nations human-rights officer and co-founder of Novica, an online international marketplace. On such a site, Oliveira explains, a customer can eschew a one-style-fits-all sweater from a chain store in favor of a garment made from "alpaca wool that Marcelino Bonifacio Silva painstakingly cleaned, combed, dyed, spun, and spent seven days knitting."
"This kind of information creates the soul of a product and makes it valuable," says Daniel Salcedo, founder of PEOPlink, a Maryland-based group that advises artisans on utilizing the Web. "A personal bond is created with another human being thousands of miles away."
Most multiartisan sites buy from cooperatives and bulk importers, then ship from U.S. warehouses. One company, Novica, maintains seven international offices, and allows customers to buy direct from the artisans, who set their own prices. Novica and the other sites mentioned here subscribe to basic fair-trade guidelines. As a result, creators make more, and consumers pay less. On average, items are priced at 20 percent to 50 percent below retail.
 Click here to view Novica items featured in the article
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As featured in January 2004 issue of Natural Health magazine. Original article by R. Daniel Foster; Photographs by Pornchai Mittongtare; Styling by Becket Cook |
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