If you google ‘images of Christmas’ the pictures the internet spews out really don’t look anything like the Christmas time we know and love in South Africa – snowflakes, winter woolies and big old white bearded Father Christmases aren’t really indicative of what it’s like to spend Christmas day in Africa when temperatures soar above 30 degrees, there’s not a frosted window in site and there’s no way that Saint Nick is scrambling down our non-existent chimneys! So why not match your Christmas decorations and gifts with the place we call home, instead of some made-up version of what we think Christmas should look like?
The African Art Centre in Florida Road provides more than 1000 crafters with a source of income by encouraging the development of traditional crafts for a contemporary market. Their end of year exhibition, entitled ‘An African Christmas’, draws inspiration from contemporary African textile designs, and includes a wide range of affordable handcrafted beadwork and wood carvings, as well as telephone wire and embroidered ornaments. There’s even an African-inspired nativity scene and the most beautiful African beaded angels – decorations that make so much more sense than fake painted snowflakes on your windows!
So why not pop on down to the African Art Centre before hitting the big malls this Christmas? Not only will you be offering much needed support for local crafters, but your home will feel more like ‘home’ than if you buy all your decorations from the ‘made in China’ offerings at the shopping malls!