December only just arrived, but celebrating the holidays is in full swing.
The Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church hosted the African Art Sale and Holiday Market on Nov. 23. This holiday themed event brings in money for a good cause.
The art sale was organized by Grandmothers to Grandmothers, an initiative supported by the Stephen Lewis Foundation, with the goal of raising money to support African grandmothers who care for orphaned children whose parents died from AIDS in South Africa.
Caroline Reed, a member of Grandmothers to Grandmothers, explained how the group is works to provide support.
“We have five granny groups in Toronto that we sell to raise money to send out through the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Stephen Lewis was our UN ambassador for us in Canada and found out about it. Did you know that he realized how bad it was in South Africa, and he started the foundation? So, some of the products that you see now are ones that the various groups that we have, the five lady’s granny groups in Toronto, are selling some things right now for Christmas, like these scarves and things like mitts and socks, and then there’s little Christmas decorations and things,” she said.
All the art and crafts sold at the event held deep meanings and beautiful stories. During the latter years of apartheid – a time when formal education for Black South Africans was restricted – Swedish Lutheran missionaries offered training in arts and crafts to local communities.
They even occasionally facilitated travel for select individuals to acquire specialized art techniques.
Encouraged to develop their own unique artistic expressions, these emerging artists blended European practices with rich African storytelling and styles. They worked with various mediums such as watercolors, gouache, pastels, chalks, and oils. Many of the artworks included hidden metaphors, weaving deeper layers of meaning into the pieces.
Reed also explained how the artwork was brought to Canada.
Initially, the primary goal was for the pieces to be displayed in an art gallery. However, circumstances changed, and nearly 30 years later, the artwork ended up being sold instead.
“There was a woman coming, [she] was going to set up a gallery of these black artists. And she brought, brought the paintings over from South Africa, so at a suburb of Johannesburg, and then she passed away. And all these pieces of work were kept in a locker, 10 by 10, [in] two lockers, and there’s some baskets and some other artwork that was done with them,” she said. “You can see it as you walk around the tables, some of the work that they did, and the locker spaces sat full of this art from South Africa for 25 to 30 years, and the brother of the woman that was on charge of the gallery decided that he wanted to distribute it. So, he found he wanted to get the money back to Africa. And we are a group of grandmothers and we are trying to support the grandmothers in Africa who are looking after their orphan grandchildren.”
Many of the artists could be identified through their paintings, and the event brochure included the names of some artists along with the themes and mediums of their work. This allowed attendees to fully appreciate the art and helped them discover new pieces to bring home.
Danielle Andrade, one of the event’s walk-in attendees and a supporter of the cause, emphasized the importance of communities helping each other and contributing to meaningful change in the world.
“For me, this African art sale is amazing and has so many incredible and affordable art and crafts, I actually bought some things for me and some for gifts. I’ve heard of the purpose behind this sale and was really touched of how these grandmothers are helping other grandmothers from Africa, putting so much effort into this sale and being able to make a difference on the orphan children life in Africa. I believe that if each of us make a little effort the world could actually be a better place for everyone.”
