THE TRIBAL DRUM 

NOVEMBER 2017

It’s been an exciting couple of months since our last Tribal Drum and we’ve got lots of news to share before the rains start.

We are very proud to introduce our new shop tribe, located just outside the gates of the South Luangwa National Park. In a very central location, tribe displays a colourful variety of contemporary Zambian and African artisan gifts, in a light and airy space.

It has an educational ‘Conservation corner’ that sells a range of fundraising products for local conservation programs and offers a small taster of the best of Tribal Textiles’ designs.

Working on the outside signage turned out to be yet another interesting experience for our talented head starcher Tiza, stencilling and painting – and managing to keep his unwavering broad grin – while perched on a ladder in the October heat! One more Zambian miracle, congratulations Tiza! Last but not least: we are offering cappuccinos and croissants at tribe, a very “Parisian” treat in the middle of the Africa bush!

Life continues apace at our main workshop as well – with its Artisan Market, Art safaris and Courtyard Café, Tribal Textiles HQ remains the heart of the business and is an invigorating place to spend some time. There’s nothing quite like watching our talented artisans at work with traditional Zambian music pumping out in the background and singing and dancing all around!

Besides construction work, we have been extremely busy fine-tuning stunning new designs, now available for wholesale purchase.

We are thrilled to reveal our new Carnivores range – inspired by the lions, wild dogs and leopards in the South Luangwa National Park. Sales directly support the vital research carried out by the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP), with 25% from each sale going towards ZCP’s great work in Zambia. 

And not forgetting the little ones, we’ve created some newbies for children with Stick Animals, our latest kids’ range! 

With bright funky colours such as fuchsia, lime, orange and teal and a contemporary twist, this design will transform children’s rooms into a playful domestic safari park. Be ready to welcome elephants, giraffes, zebras and warthogs into your home!

For wholesale information, please contact sales@tribaltextiles.co.zm.

With temperatures reaching nearly 45 degrees, our brains - and creativity - have been boiling accordingly and we have developed a whole exciting new range of products: door stops, hammocks, bean bags, oven mitts...

But one of our favourite new creations is our beautiful banana paper cards – block printed designs decorated with traditional Zambian fabrics and artefacts. The organic banana paper is made by One Planet Café - right next door to Tribal Textiles. We started with bush animals and have moved onto wonderful silhouettes, working with our creative staff to embellish the cards with small scraps of traditional chitenge fabrics and natural feathers.

The ingenuity and imagination of our lovely ladies here at Tribal Textiles now amazes us every day, with our shop assistant Christine being by far the most creative!

These unique handmade cards are sold in our shop in a variety of animals and people. If you fancy sending unusual and fairtrade greetings cards, they are also now available to buy on our online shop https://shop.tribaltextiles.co.zm/.

The paper, made from recycled Zambian banana fibres, is WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization) verified and processed in traditional Japanese Washi-factories, constructed here in the Zambian bush, to use as little energy, water and chemicals as possible in the process.

All the best for now (and the end of the year) from the Tribal Team!