MatriArts

Our Company:

At MatriArts®, we foster women’s (or matriarchal) arts in African cultures as well as parallels in other cultures. Our primary objective is to enable the artists to build and/or maintain successful enterprises around their various genres. Our vision is to revitalize time-honoured matriarchal arts (or matriarts), revive those that are extinct or in danger of extinction and ensure their continuity. Our initiatives serve to further all of the above and inspire a global participation in the conservation, continuity and revival of matriarts.

Our Campaign: 

Daughters of the REAL REVOLUTIONARIES®

MatriArts® is currently charged with the creation of promotional and other items for Daughters of the Real Revolutionaries (or DotRR), an initiative through which we honour women who have upheld musical and other legacies or contributed significantly to the perpetuation of these legacies. 

This campaign serves to raise the capital with which to enroll twenty (20) youth and young adults [Ten (10) in Africa and ten (10) in the Diaspora] in an introductory course within the RISD CE Product Development & Manufacturing Certificate Program(https://cereg.risd.edu/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=2088968). 

Through this program , students acquire knowledge, skills and training in: design and entrepreneurship that can be utilized immediately in the creation of items for DotRR and in self-employment opportunities. And since DotRR itself hosts an annual event, http://www.felabration.net/about.html, it presents current and future students with ample opportunities to test skills and training acquired. Below are some recent courses within the program: 

Product Development and Manufacturing: Introduction

https://cereg.risd.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1029263

Digital Design Techniques

https://cereg.risd.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1029325 

Material Exploration

https://cereg.risd.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1028607 

3D Modeling with Rhino

https://cereg.risd.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=2730723 

Manufacture to Market

https://cereg.risd.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=2704283 

We are committed to the dissemination of accurate, relevant and current knowledge on Africa, her cultures and the matriarts they have engendered. To deepen our knowledge and understanding of these matriarts, we maintain networks and collaborations that provide access to related knowledge on Africa. For instance, our collaboration with ANIKE - a non-profit organization that operates an MIT OCW Mirror Site (https://ocw.aprende.org/about/mirror-site-program/) in Nigeria - grants access to such courses as:

Global Africa: Creative Cultures:

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/21g-026-global-africa-creative-cultures-spring-2018/

Music in Africa:

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/21m-293-music-of-africa-fall-2005/pages/calendar/

Technology and Innovation in Africa:

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sts-089-technology-and-innovation-in-africa-fall-2014/pages/calendar/

Such courses:

• Transforms the design, development and manufacture of our products and services. 
• Fosters connections that enable knowledge exchange as well as skill building, acquisition and transfer.
• Inspires the facilitation of cross-cultural learning and interactions between Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora

These courses will be included in the curriculum so students gain insight into Africa, her resources as well as her challenges. The curriculum will  enable students to design, develop and manufacture a variety of products that reflect their cultural heritage.

Our Shop:

Our shop carries an array of unique and carefully selected products that embody the aesthetic, versatile and enduring qualities of matriarts in Africa and beyond. Our products serve to stimulate a genuine interest in and an appreciation of these matriarts and the rich cultural heritage of the remarkable women whose artistry we seek to foster. We:

• Employ a team of artists, designers, vendors and buyers who are dedicated to the delivery of quality products that reflect our objectives. 
• Encourage our team to explore and utilize Africa’s vast mineral and other resources in their work, along with a variety of media.
• Actively promote and prominently feature products inspired by matriarts that are extinct or in danger of extinction in order to foster their revival. 

We intend to add graduates of the program to our team. Your contribution to our campaign is greatly appreciated! MatriArts® is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization of 2+ staff and several volunteers.