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Barbie Dolls: Selena Moreno's Barbie Collection 2001-2004. Prop Master: Alena Moreno. Photo: Johnny Sims
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“Bigger than Barbie” is the name to a documentary that surely sparks interest. Why the reference to America’s Doll icon,
Barbie and does the title do the documentary justice? On Friday, July 27, 2007 at 7pm,
Art Aids Art presented a screening of “Bigger than Barbie”, featuring the 450 female artists of
Monkeybiz Bead Project, one of the greatest success stories in post-Apartheid
South Africa. The event was hosted by
San Gabriel Bead Company , located at 325 E Live Oak in Arcadia, east of Downtown Los Angeles to an audience of about 40 guests.
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Monkeybiz Trunk Show July 27, 2007. San Gabriel Bead Company, California. Photo: Johnny Sims
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Director/Producer, Tina Davis with family in South Africa. Photo: Yasser Booley
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The documentary was informative, memorable and stirred within me a renewed interest to inquire about the title, “Bigger than Barbie”. I could not resist asking Director/Producer,
Tina Davis, why the documentary was named such. According to Davis, “when I was in Cape Town for the first time in late 2002, I heard
Barbara Jackson, one of the founders of Monkeybiz, jokingly say that they wanted to become “Bigger than Barbie”, and I instantly knew this had to be the title for the documentary. The dolls have such a free expression in that they are colorful, fun, unique and so far removed from anything mass produced and formatted”. Can Monkeybiz become “Bigger than Barbie” since Barbie has been around since 1959 whereas Monkeybiz started in 2000?
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Langa Township, just beyond the N7 highway, Cape Town. Photo: Johnny Sims
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Shot primarily in
Cape Town and surrounding impoverished townships, “Bigger than Barbie” follows the experiences of women working to overcome extreme poverty and
HIV/AIDS through contemporary bead art. Their unique reinterpretation of traditional beading has created a sensation at exhibits around the world, selling out in hours at renowned venues such as
Sotheby’s of
London; the success in sales of the Monkeybiz dolls at
DKNY ; the May 10 – 20, 2007 screening of “Bigger than Barbie” at the
Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival in
Ankara, Turkey plus the inaugural June 8, 2006 screening of “Bigger than Barbie” at the
ABC Carpet & Home Store on Broadway in
New York. To further promote the message of the documentary, "Bigger than Barbie" was screened at the
San Francisco International Arts Festival on May 21, 2007. Notable celebrities in the documentary included appearances from Monkeybiz enthusiasts
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, designer
Donna Karan, singer
Annie Lennox, and Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Nelson Mandela. Norwegian Producer/Director, Tina Davis spent 4 years making “Bigger than Barbie” after being captivated by a beaded doll she received as a gift and went to Cape Town in 2002 to inquire about the women behind Monkeybiz.
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Monkeybiz Designer, Mathapelo Ngaka. Photo: Tina Davis
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Mathapelo & Pumhla from Monkeybiz outside the DKNY Store on Madison Ave, New York. Photo: Tina Davis
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Each handmade Monkeybiz doll has handwriting designer signature on hangtags (Trunk Show, San Gabriel Bead Company) Photo: Johnny Sims
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In the movie industry, the
Oscars are the ultimate! Making it to the Oscars is something we all dream about regardless to which side of the camera lens you are on. South Africans have made it to
Tinseltown, won an Oscar or two and have dressed A-List Celebrities for the Red Carpet. I wonder if any of the voting members of The Academy have been made aware of the incredible design talent of Monkeybiz. If they did, who knows how big the Monkeybiz name will become around the globe?
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Lucilla Booyzen, Founder/Director, Sanlam SA Fashion Week - Welcome, Spring/Summer 2007 in Sandton, South Africa. Photo: Johnny Sims
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In South Africa,
Lucilla Booyzen, Founder/Director,
Sanlam SA Fashion Week (SA-South Africa) and
World Fashion Week, International Committee Member, is someone who has put South African fashion designers on the international stage. Can she do the same for
Monkeybiz?
London Fashion Week;
MAGIC Las Vegas, Nevada;
Bread and Butter, Barcelona, Spain;
IGEDO Dusseldorf, Germany ; Acapulco, Mexico and Shanghai, China are some of the places that Booyzen assisted South Africa’s designers to show over the years. In my opinion, collaboration between Monkeybiz and Sanlam SA Fashion Week would be a great fit given the
“Arts and Culture Fusion Project” that Sanlam SA Fashion Week hosts as a merger between the fashion designer and the crafter.
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Black Coffee, Arts & Culture Fusion Project. Photo: Leign-Anne Jenks/SSAFW
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In answer to my interview question,
Booyzen stated “that for
Summer 2008, we are launching 17 new designers which consists of 6 with the
ELLE New Talent Competition, 5 in the Ladieswear section and 6 in the Menswear section. This is unusual for a Fashion Week but the creative fashion design growth is so phenomenal that we have to give more designers the opportunity to showcase their talent. I get a great kick out of building designers. To this end, I have seen the following designers placed within
South Africa’s department stores:
Stoned Cherrie, Maya Prass and
Themba in Woolworths;
Ephymol, Bongiwe Walaza, Black Coffee, Palesa Mokhubung and
Holmes Brothers in Edgars. Sanlam SA Fashion Week is the voice of South Africa’s fashion and we celebrate the diversity of our indigenous fashion identity to the world”. Booyzen’s sentiment about South Africa’s design talent was echoed when I spoke to her on the phone a few days ago from my
Los Angeles office. Furthermore, I was convinced when I viewed the current programme of their Summer 2008 Collections that the design talent from Monkeybiz’s designers featured in “Bigger than Barbie” would compliment Sanlam SA Fashion Week and vice versa.
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Eastern Cape Crafters-Sanlam SA Fashion Week. Photo: Leigh-Anne Jenks
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Beadwork on the Runway - Amanda Laird Cherry, Sanlam SA Fashion Week/Summer 2007. Photo: Johnny Sims
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In the aura of fashion affiliation,
Debra Stevenson, culture expert/tracker and founder of
Trend Agitator, a global trend analysis blog, is someone who initially introduced me to the incredible talent of Monkeybiz a few years back. Little did I know that now the grassroots design dynamics from the townships of Cape Town have reached far beyond the soars of South Africa? Always pushing her creative envelope, Stevenson has collaborated with the
Craft and Folk Art Museum of Los Angeles under her brand consultancy,
The Skyline Studios to curate an exhibition,
“From Craft to Catwalk” January 20 - May 18, 2008 which will trace the influence of craft and culture in cutting edge contemporary fashion. The mixed media show will be a forum for innovative designers inspired by folk art and indigenous craft techniques.
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The Skyline Studios: (L) Carlos Alberto & (R) Debra Stevenson Front Row, Shay Todd Spring 07 MBFashion Week LA. Photo: Johnny Sims
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As exhibit Curator, Stevenson is thrilled to merge her 20 years experience in the fashion industry with her lifelong passion for tribal arts, trend tracking and global travel. Since Monkeybiz is amongst the many brands already confirmed by Stevenson to exhibit in the show, who knows where this collaboration may go as both companies look to expand their brand since the “From Craft to Catwalk” exhibit will feature participating designers from
Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa), North Africa (Morocco), South America (Brazil, Argentina), North America (Native American, Mexican), Pan-Asia (India, China) and
Eastern Europe (Russia).
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Trunk Show: San Gabriel Bead Company. Photo: Johnny Sims
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Archbishop & Nobel Peace Price Winner (1984) Desmond Tutu is a Monkeybiz affiliate. Photo: Joachim Hoge.
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Selecting, invoicing & packaging of Monkeybiz designs at San Gabriel Bead Company. Tom Harding, Art Aids Art (M) Photo: Johnny Sims
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So how big have the Monkeybiz dolls become over the years?
According to
Tina Davis,
“Bigger than Barbie” will have its worldwide DVD release on October 1st, 2007 after which it will be available from www.biggerthanbarbie.com; the “Bigger than Barbie” MySpace site www.myspace.com/bigger_than_barbie; the Monkeybiz's internet shop www.monkeybiz.co.za as well as the shops around the world that sell Monkeybiz products. Looks like the dolls are on their way to gain more notoriety around the globe? Their fame has surpassed the message that Co-founder,
Barbara Jackson had in mind when she collaborated on the documentary. Jackson adds, “that we wanted to get across through “Bigger than Barbie” how women really can overcome all odds and how from absolutely no resources and very little hope, women can blossom and grow when love, support and skills are presented into their lives.”
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Barbara Jackson,Co-Founder & Director - Monkeybiz. Photo: Michele Horwitz
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Los Angeles Designer,
Peter Cohen, who just returned from a two week vacation in
Cape Town, shared with me his account of life in South Africa. Working on this article has allowed me to share my path with incredible women who continue to make a difference in South Africa’s fashion industry by providing employment options despite the country’s despair and who have taken the incredible, free-spirited design talent from my homeland to the international stage. I look forward to the continued success to South Africa’s fashion industry and to
Monkeybiz Bead Project in their zeal to truly make their business
“Bigger than Barbie”.
It's a Wrap, V.
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Lena, one of the Monkeybiz bead artists working from her home in Khayelitsha. Photo: Yasser Booley
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Links:
www.abchome.com
www.artaidsart.org
www.beadcompany.com
www.biggerthanbarbie.com
www.breadandbutter.com
www.cafam.org
www.dkny.com
www.edgars.co.za
www.igedo.com
www.londonfashionweek.co.uk
www.magiconline.com
www.monkeybiz.co.za
www.sanlamsafashionweek.co.za
www.sfiaf.org
www.sothebys.com
www.trendagitator.com
www.theskylinestudios.com
www.woolworths.co.za
www.worldfashionweek.tv
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