‘The experience has been great – in fact unforgettable!’

I have been involved in the project for three years, contributing my 20 years
of experience of body decoration and jewellery design.  My key challenge
was to develop fashionable and wearable designs which retained a traditional Maasai look. Initially there were many other challenges such as; teaching the women to work in groups respecting basic principles, teaching them numeracy, explaining the basics of business . The Maasai Ladies were very positive and after six months were ready to produce the first collection. I spent two weeks in Tanzania in 2007, selecting and training a Maasai woman, to tackle all the production problems of each model, she is now a competent technical expert.

In September 2008 I spent another three weeks in Tanzania working on the second collection. I taught Hellen 25 new models and spent time with the group-leaders teaching them how to produce 5 of these new models.

The design aspect has been an interesting challenge. I started analysing the traditional Maasai models, then tried to come up with options in order to solve some practical problems, for example; large and rigid necklaces, no clasps or scratchy ones, large heavy earrings, “permanent” bracelets and bracelets one cannot put on by oneself, designs that could only suit the amazing Maasai. appearance, use of iron wire that rusts etc... In designing new models I focused on the restriction of using traditional materials such as glass beads, iron wire, nylon wire, and plastic details derived from broken water-tanks, and on using only “hands”, instead of tools, to make the jewellery.

First of all I taught my students at the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Milan the original Maasai techniques for building the main patterns, such as the circle with a single axis, the circle with four or more rays, the square, the rectangle and the Maasai texture. Then I let them play with these geometrical shapes to create new compositions and to develop attractive, properly working clasps, both for necklaces and bracelets. As Art Director my task is to choose the best models, to push the students to invent good technical finishing and to decide the colour palette of the complete collection.

The two collections are quite different in term of aesthetic.  The first collection is more “maasai oriented” in terms of look, initially we didn’t know how the women would accept the re-styling of their traditional jewels. But in fact they were interested in models which are slightly different from their traditional ones, so we decided to attempt more “fashion oriented” pieces. The women have increased their ability to produce beautiful beadwork of high quality, and I myself learned a lot observing them while they work. Initially I was sure I would have to teach them to use a tool for cutting the iron wire properly, but eventually I learned how to cut it without a tool, just using experience and understanding the physical attributes of the metals. I spent days working with the women in the dusty savanna, under the African sun without experiencing problems. Even when I don’t speak Maa or Kiswahili and they don’t speak English or Italian, this has not been a constraint. It was enough for me to learn 5 words, to write down the first ten numbers in Kiswahili and all the communications barriers were broken. The women accepted with enthusiasm this Italian lady  who was engaging with them in mutual learning 

During my career as jewellery design teacher and as goldsmith, I have sometimes wondered about the meaning of producing unnecessary objects in modern society, even when I know very well that  human beings have decorated themselves since the beginning of time. While working with TMWA I have finally discovered the importance of my personal contribution in the creation of jewelleries.