A creative talent that thrives

He turns rubbish into works of art, each piece with a distinctive appeal. It takes a gifted eye and a creative mind, writes Liz Clarke

THE spidery network of Kariakoo’s narrow back streets in the busy market precinct of Dar es Salaam was the nurturing ground for Francis Ngaeje’s creative talents.

Now 43 and a long way from his childhood roots in Tanzania, he has never forgotten the hours he spent watching his grandfather fashion beautiful objects from what others perceived to be useless throw-outs.

We are chatting in his airy workshop and office at the back of the Hillcrest Aids Centre, where he has what he calls a “God-given opportunity” to flourish and succeed in the work he does so well and with a seeming never-ending passion.

Surrounding him is what can only be described as a celebration of recycling. Above him is a baby’s mobile bobbing in the breeze, its eye-catching cut-out nursery motifs catching the morning light. A few months ago this was just a pile of discarded ice cream cartons.”

“From when I was about 4 or 5 my grandfather taught me to look at things through different eyes. He would say ‘Look at that bit of wood that somebody has thrown out – do you think it is beautiful?’ When I told him that I thought it was ugly, he would laugh and tell me to sit down. Then, with a small knife, a chisel and sandpaper, he would make magic, a face, a ship a flower or a tree, it would just appear. ‘One day you can make money out of old things,’ he told me. I will never forget those times and his amazing gift. That’s the tradition I am trying to carry on.”

While Ngaeje believes his imaginative talent can take him “to almost any place”, he is also a pragmatist, understanding that art alone will not pay the bills.

“I managed to survive quite well in Tanzania, doing welding part-time and studying art at the technical school in Dar es Salaam. But money was always a problem and when I was about 25 I decided to look at new career opportunities and put my art interests aside.

That process of forwardthinking earned him a job on a cargo ship, where he worked as a sailor for several years, finally moving to Durban, where he found a placement at an NGO education project.

“I loved my time there, but sadly there was not enough money to pay me, so, to add to my income, I went back to what I had learnt from my grandfather – making glass tumblers out of beer bottles, which I sold at the beachfront. What is really nice is that all these years later I have been able to pass that skill on to other people, who had no jobs.”

Today Ngaeje has developed a brand of crafting that is uniquely his own, still using materials that are often thrown away. Plastic paint pots are transformed into light fixtures; the rims delicately cut to produce a scene from nature or a starlit sky, and on the worktable are a selection of colourful woven purses that are just about ready for the Christmas market season.

Ngaeje, always the inventer, said the material he used for his new range of designer purses was made from strips of laminated pictures – from old wall maps to family photographs.

“When I learnt that many schools were getting rid of their old wall maps and education material, because most of this sort of stuff is on laptops and tablets, I thought it was a good way of expanding my business.

“What I do is cut up the map or illustration into fine strips and, through a technique taught to me by my grandfather, I weave these strips into a fabric that can be used to cover my purses or perhaps later handbags. I use old kit bag material to make the inside as it is strong and the zips are good.”

It means every one is different, depending on the theme he chooses, but they’re timeconsuming. “In the beginning I did not factor the cost of my time into making things, but as a business person you have to. The exciting thing is that I can personalise these items and people like that.”

We can’t leave without mention of the blaze of white flowers that explode on one of his office walls.

“Those were once milk bottles,” he says. “There’s beauty in everything – did you know that?”

Today Ngaeje’s intricate and unusual objets d’art have become a must-have gift range, exported via Woza Moya, a KZN incomegenerating project, to craft centres in South Africa and other countries lizclarke4@gmail.com • For more about local crafts, go to wozamarketing@hillaids.org.za