Visit to Swaziland

Woodturners Liz and Michael O’Donnell, who are based in Thurso in Caithness, were invited to demonstrate earlier this year at the woodturning congress in Durban by the Association of Woodturners of South Africa.

With assistance from the Scottish Arts Council they were able to look at the crafts scene in both Swaziland and South Africa during their visit. Liz O’Donnell describes what they found and how it has influenced their work:

'Swaziland is a small country, landlocked by its much bigger neighbour South Africa.  It is a very poor third world nation where the craft industry is driven by the need for survival rather than lifestyle.

Marketing of crafts is primarily directed at tourism, the roadsides and shops are filled with crafts using traditional skills, though many of these were from the neighbouring countries of Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

In both South Africa and Swaziland, where there was development of the crafts industry by the indigenous people, there seemed to be four key characteristics:

• Co-operative working
• Inspiration
• Traditional skills adapted to create modern designs
• Great ingenuity in the use of recycled materials

Go to the craftscotland website for more on Liz and Michael O'Donnell's visit to South Africa and Swaziland.