The Kaross Project

Tsonga and Shangaan embroidery
Giyani region, Limpopo Province
South Africa

What started in 1989 as a small project by a citrus farmer's wife to provide a modest income for a few of the workers' wives, is today uniting communities and changing the lives of 900 Tsonga and Shangaan women in the Giyani region of South Africa's far northern Limpopo Province.

Irma van Rooyen started by drawing designs on fabric, providing embroidery yarns, and encouraging the women to have a free hand in interpreting her designs. Dormant artistic skills and a wealth of common local knowledge emerged. These vibrantly colorful works of art are a distillation of this region and are rooted in the ancient tribal skills of these people.

The Kaross Project was the 2000 Merit Award Winner of the FNB Vita Craft Now Awards and was one of the Gold Award winners in 2002

http://www.sasekile.co.za/