ARTS-BURKINA FASO: Joy and Tears at This Year's Craft Fair

OUAGADOUGOU, Nov 08 (IPS) - For some artisans, this year's International Craft Fair (SIAO) in Burkina Faso was a time of joy, but for others the experience proved a rocky road - literally.

Adjara Dao, a 52-year-old Burkinabe potter, had to transport her pots, vases and other artefacts from her home town Tougan to Ouagadougou for the fair. But as most of the 200-km route is not tarred, many of the fragile objects broke, she told IPS.

Still Dao, mother of seven, said she was happy to participate for the third time in the six-day fair which was held last week. Though she did not make much money from her stand, the event allowed her to meet people and learn from them.

Transport is one of the main difficulties facing potters here and, as a result, more people have been attracted by dyeing, not only in Burkina Faso, but also in neighbouring countries like Mali.

But this year's SIAO did not go well for the majority of dyers, partly because competition was stiff among the exhibitors from 25 countries who participated in the fair.

Hairata Nignan, a cloth dyer from Burkina Faso, told IPS: "At the last SIAO I grossed more than three million CFA francs (then worth about 10,700 U.S. dollars), but this time I did not even make two million", less than 4,000 U.S. dollars at the present exchange rate.

Moreover, the Burkinabe authorities imposed a six-percent duty on all goods brought into the country and taxed all articles sold at the fair by 15 percent.

"We did not even sell half of our cloths and gowns," complained Oumou Keita of the Association of Malian Dyers (ATM).

She feels the high taxes caused many of the artisans to go broke, especially since some of them borrowed money to participate in the fair.

But for a few other exhibitors SIAO 1994 was a dream come true. One woman who asked not to be identified said European buyers ordered about 58,000 dollars' worth of the dyed cloth and gowns her small firm makes.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service