Hey, is this really from Africa?

When Ms. Ye Traoré decided to start a business selling African goods in Prague in the 1990s, the idea seemed like a shot in the dark. Today, African Culture and Art has a loyal clientele and offers a range of products from spices to fashion. The desire to provide work for African artists was met with growing curiosity from Czech customers. Thanks in part to this one shop, they are slowly realizing that we don't need to be afraid of difference.

From the shop window on Kamenická Street, a variety of products, rich colors, and vibrant patterns beckon passersby. Ms. Bekessová, who manages the shop's operations, unlocks the door for us. She recalls that it has been more than seven years since she started working behind the counter. We look around the spacious rooms filled with clothing, jewelry, and figurines. When the shop first started in the 1990s in just a few square meters at the Náprstek Museum, Ye Traoré could hardly have guessed what the future held for her business project.

"I knew that amazing things were being created in Africa and that many artists didn't have the opportunity to get their goods out into the world," the shop owner says, commenting on her decision to start the business. She recalls the time when she was studying at university in Prague just after the revolution. "It was important to me that people here had the chance to get to know African things. In the nineties, nobody knew anything about Africa. I myself received questions that seemed impossible to me." Ye Traoré managed to combine the desire to offer fair compensation to African artists with the need to break down stereotypes here at home. "So, as they say, I killed two birds with one stone," she laughs.

Ms. Bekessová, who is the first point of contact for people coming into the shop, also has the opportunity to observe stereotypes about Africa. "It occurs to me that people are often looking for an elephant with its trunk raised, or they look at laundry baskets and start talking about whether there are cobras inside." Bekessová adds that we still have limited access to sources of information that would update our deeply ingrained notions. "We still perceive Africa as a single entity, even though that's not the case at all. There is huge diversification there, I would say often significantly more than in Europe." Today, both casual passersby and a loyal clientele who visit regularly come to the shop. They return for jewelry, gifts for friends, or to decorate their apartments in an African style. Bekessová admits that people sometimes even come in for amulets these days. For example, couples trying to conceive come looking for fertility dolls. "I remember several cases where they came back to tell me that the doll worked."

"People are sometimes still afraid of that colorful difference," adds Bekessová. "But as soon as they try something on, suddenly it's not so unimaginable to wear something different. They realize they can stand out." In a similar spirit of rejecting the fear of difference, Ye Traoré offered some positive words: "It is necessary to offer different things. Not to remain based on stereotypes. Anyone who dares to come up with something different might be pleasantly surprised."

‍

Author: Sára Procházková

This article was created as part of the "We Are Not Strangers" project, which is co-financed by the European Union.