Interview: Jessica Cook, regional representative of Aid to Artisans

People find themselves producing artisan items

We chose to work in Macedonia because of the Macedonian tradition in artisans, because of the works, because of the mingling of influence of history and other cultures in the Balkans that are seen in the Macedonian artisan tradition

To support the development and to improve the work of the micro, small and medium artisan businesses, and at the same time to maintain the tradition, is the main goal of the project “MADE IN MACEDONIA”, a project which has been running in Macedonia since 2000, and is financed by the Government of the United States of America through the USA Agency for international development (USAID). Carrier of the project is the organization Aid to Artisans, whose regional representative is Jessica Cook.

“I must say that Macedonia is a challenge in many ways”, says Jessica Cook at the beginning of our conversation, adding that for one year, the time she’s been in our country, she met Macedonia very well, and she feels sad that she’ll leave in December this year when the project formally ends. “I’d like to learn and see much more here in Macedonia, but the cycle of the project is of that kind that I have to leave”, explains Jessica Cook. This organization during the project succeeded in many ways to improve the artisans in Macedonia,  and through its selling centres in Skopje (in the old bazaar in the hotel “Arka” and in the Feudal tower), in Gevgelija, in Ohrid and in Bitola made the artisan products closer to the buyers and turned the attention towards tradition and handicrafts.

Aid to Artisans gives an annual reward for designers at a competition that is published every year at the end of May. The reward that establishes connection between the artisans and the designers is especially important because exactly this connection is one of the primary conditions for the artisan’s products to be successfully sold at the market.

Can you tell us something more about the organization Aid to Artisans?
Aid to Artisans is a non-profitable organization whose centre is in Connecticut, the United States of America. We work on different programmes throughout the whole world, and currently we are on programmes in nine countries among which are Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Salvador, Mozambique. Currently, the only country in Europe with which we are working is Macedonia. Our mission is to support the artisans so that they can live from what they do. We do that in three different ways. We teach them how to design and improve the production of the products in order to make them more valuable. We teach them to use their skills and sources in order to make the design more attractive, because in the end they have to sell their product in order to survive. So, we research the market and we tell the artisans how to adjust. The second sphere in which we work with the artisans is a training in the area of business, forming the price of the product, to promoting the product on the domestic and the foreign market, how to export it. Also, we teach the artisans how to register as a firm, to register what they do, because that is very important. We represent the products on selling exhibitions usually during holidays, at times when people buy presents, we have our own net of shops, and also we represent the products on international fairs in New York, Frankfurt, Paris.

You mentioned that the only country in Europe that you work with is Macedonia. Is Macedonia accidentally chosen or on the basis of your research?
Actually we have already worked in Eastern Europe, in Romania and Hungary. We started working in Macedonia and we want to see whether we have learned some lessons in the other countries in the region that can be useful here. Sure, Macedonia was chosen also because of its tradition in artisans, because of the works, because of the mingling of influence of history and other cultures in the Balkans that are seen in the Macedonian artisan tradition. In 2000 when we came in Macedonia we saw that it has a tradition in artisans, but it needed a new energy. The project will finish in December this year.

What will happen after the project ends?
It’s true that the project ends at the end of the year, but that’s only formally. We consider that for these five years, the time we’ve been here, an appropriate climate for development of artisans was created, people got to know each other, made some contacts, so that they can continue without the formal existence of the project. We feel that the artisans in Macedonia have strength to keep and continue the tradition.

Considering that the project ends at the end of the year, how much are you satisfied with what you have done so far in Macedonia?
I’ve been in Macedonia for one year, so, unfortunately, I wasn’t here from the beginning. I must say that Macedonia is a challenge in many ways. All those who live in Macedonia know there are potentials for business, for development of artisans, there are potentials not only because of the materials, but also because of the skills of people, but the business in Macedonia is facing some difficulties that many times are of administrative nature. But, I must say that during our work in Macedonia we have seen many changes. The Macedonian market is changing. People are becoming more and more conscious about the meaning of artisans, more and more people are coming to the selling exhibitions, so that more than 6,000 people visited our last selling exhibition in Cifte Amam in Skopje. It’s very important that the attitudes for the importance of artisans are changing and the skills of the artisans are connected with business. This connection is very important because the artisans learn how to get closer to the buyer and how to build the price. I must say that we are satisfied with these changes and we hope that the artisans will have progress even after we leave.

Did you focus on one certain region in Macedonia or the work with the artisans is done in all parts of the country?
When our organization came to Macedonia we wanted to connect with all artisans from Macedonia. We went to Debar, Struga, Kicevo, Krusevo, Bitola, Skopje to find interested artisans who would like to cooperate with us. We told them that we’ll help them make their skills more perfect and to win the market. We presented many products also on the foreign markets, and one of our best-sold products are the cushions manually embroidered by a group of women from Krusevo.

You sell the Macedonian products at the markets in the USA and in Western Europe. How much are our products sold and what’s the price they reach?
It’s a challenge to sell the Macedonian products on foreign markets. We knew we could never be competitive with the prices because the products from Asia held the lowest prices by far, but we want to find some other sphere where we’ll be competitive. We engaged designers from New York who shaped the product that was being produced here in Macedonia with  Macedonian materials. We had success with that kind of cooperation and we established connections with the importers from Western Europe and from the USA.

I suppose you have seen lots of artisan’s works in Macedonia. Has anything left a special impression, has any work fascinated you?
It’s hard to choose only one thing. Though, I’ll point out the objects made of metal. I was thrilled by the copper works and the engraving, I haven’t met that kind of work before.

Did you research the artisan’s tradition also in some other countries before you came to Macedonia?
I studied the artisans in Zimbabwe, Africa, I did some research in Madagascar, and I also had a possibility to stay in Indonesia with the student exchange. I’d like to stay in Macedonia even longer, at the time being one year seems as a short period to see and meet everything I want in your country. Apart from that, I started studying the language, I have friends here, but because of the cycle of the project at the end of the year I’ll leave Macedonia and probably get back to the United States to be closer to my family.

You come from a country that is famous for high technology and computerization in all areas. How did you get interested in artisans?
I’m from Vermount, an American state that by the surface is as Macedonia and is situated in the northeast part of the USA, in which people live peacefully and quietly, and in which some artisan’s traditions are still kept. When Vermont is promoted, it’s promoted as a country of nature and of cultural traditions, and part of that cultural tradition of Vermont is artisans as well. Artisans aren’t strange for me because while I was growing up, with the help of my mother, I was trying to make some things. In any case, I think that artisan’s products are also more and more appreciated in the USA as people find a part of themselves in those products, part of where they come from.

Marija Kuka