Craft promotion

For decades, man has presented nature in form of sculptures or photographs to satisfy his or her own needs. The creation of these two, however, requires totally separate tools. Sculpting, commonly referred to as handicraft, uses hands only or very straightforward tools to make items like wood carvings or soapstone sculptures. Photography, on the other hand, uses sophisticated , expensive tool and light to originate still or request for retrial pictures. With changing global lifestyles, these hitherto cut off arts, now as a matter of fact co-exist in the same habitats like the game parks. How do these arts recite to each other?

In this article, I will restrict the consulation to situations in the East African game parks where majority of visitors (tourists)to these countries end up in, thereby development the game park a inherent convergence point for african handicraft and photography. Visitors to these parks are not allowed to remove anyone from the parks as exemplified by one stern warning I recently saw at Lake Manyara Game Park in Tanzania. It read “Do not take anyone from the park except: nourishment of the soul, Consolation for the heart and Inspiration for the mind”. The visitors could, therefore, legally carry only photographs they had taken in the park or any of the varied wood and soapstone carvings easily available at the gate. Is this enough?

Handicraft

To write back this question, one needs to look at these two arts more critically:

- African Handicraft: The most coarse forms of sculptures in East Africa commonly rehearse human or animal form and in wood or soapstone. Wood carvings are more beloved with the artisans because wood is found all over East Africa unlike soapstone which occurs only in Kisii, in western Kenya. In addition, wood being more malleable, offers less challenge to the artisan who is equipped with basic and not very developed tools. But hardwood tends to attract more experienced and great equipped artisans because it cracks more as a matter of fact than softwood. Hardwood also withstands damage by insects and weather changes better. Hardwood carvings, therefore, are not only more durable but should be of higher quality. A park visitor will , therefore , be able to pick high potential wood carvings and soapstone sculptures that rehearse the real thing if armed with sufficient knowledge. These come in many varieties,are unique and readly available. All are three dimensional in difference to photography. Moreover, with the internet, all these products are also available online.

- Photography: A good photographer at a game park can take good still and request for retrial pictures using very transportable equipment. But the pictures are not three dimensional and need more expensive tool to create.

African Handicraft and Photography,therefore,are like opposite ends of the same thing to a game park visitor. Used in aggregate and done correctly, the two arts work synergistically and should never compete with each other as they furnish full and total satisfaction to the game park visitors.

African Handicrafts And Photography – competitive Or Complimentary Relationship?

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