A number of Guyanese artisans had their work showcased at the Interior Design Show in Toronto from January 27 to 30 through the launch and exhibition of “New Caribbean Design: Guyana” home décor and furniture product lines, a release from the High Commission of Canada at Young and High streets said.
All the products presented, the release noted, were manufactured by hand in Guyana and the companies represent a cross-section of the best of the region from furniture manufacturers to the beautiful and rare work of Amerindian communities.
The well received booth showed new work by Irene Bacchus-Holder (Amazon Authentics), Sean Carrington (Wifi Handcrafted Leather), Jocelyn Dow (Liana Cane), Sharla Hernandez (Rupununi Weavers), Vanda Radzik (Makushi Embroiderers), Shaun Summerson (Summer-sons Furniture), Richard Winter (Arawak Leather Craft) and Nicholas Young (Rainforest Pottery).
This Trade Facilitation Office of Canada (TFO Canada) Artisan Sector Initiative under the leadership of design consultant Patty Johnson and in partnership with the Guyana Manufactur-ing and Services Association (GMSA) was focused on increasing the competitiveness of micro and small sized artisan enterprises in Guyana.
That endeavour, the release said, was spearheaded through the development of an export ready craft product collection and the launch and promotion of this collection in the Interior Design Show in Canada.
The show was attended by over 50,000 people and the group made many worthwhile contacts including Amazon.com as well as well respected retailers like Klaus and Kiosk.
Meanwhile, Dow’s liana chairs will be featured at the upcoming Canada Blooms Show and the entire collection will be shown again at the Salone de Mobile in Milan this April.
The installation was highlighted in the Toronto Star on Saturday, February 5 as one of the outstanding collections seen at the design show and will also be featured in an upcoming issue of Vogue Magazine.
The collection won a Design Lines award as one of the picks of the show by the editors of the Canadian design magazine Azure, the release stated.
Over the years TFO Canada has been supporting the export aspirations of thousands of developing country exporters from all corners of the world and transferring Canadian trade expertise to strengthen SMEs, bolster trade and support related institutions in developing countries. Guyana is a beneficiary under TFO Canada’s current three-year project contract funded by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
TFO partners with Guy-ana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture Office in Guyana (IICA) and New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) to implement various trade capacity building and business linkage activities in support of Guyana’s agro, artisanal and packaging sectors.
