Strolling through the Travel Indaba Sustainability village in Durban, South Africa, I stumbled upon the hard to ignore work of Amagama Amahle; a homeware business that celebrates African languages and affirms indigenous wisdom. The business is just shy of two years old and run by four sisters, Norma who is 36, Fiona, 25, and the twins – Candice and Clare who are 21. Amagama Amahle has had its pop-up stalls at events like iheartDurban and the Durban Essence Fest. What do they offer? Everyday prints, frames, mugs and cards that stand out for one reason, in particular, they carry powerful words, phrases and saying in their mother tongue, Zulu. #ENTHUSE spoke to Norma and asked a few questions about what keeps this family-run creative business going.
Stephanie: Walk us through how you guys started…
Norma:
The business was started in November 2016 – following frustrations of not being able to find decor and stationery items that reflected our Zulu and African heritage.
S: Of all the mediums, why homeware and stationery?
Norma:
“We looked into decor and stationery because those were the products resonated to us.The idea of clothing came to mind but when we researched, we realised that the market was saturated. So we reverted to the original idea of cards and homeware items that give an African and authentic alternative to posters with sayings like ‘Keep calm and carry on’.
S: How important are affirmations in the mother tongue anyway?
Norma:
It is really important to all of us. Zulu is our mother tongue and often the language we choose to express deep emotion. Though everyone in our family is fluent in English, you’ll often find us switching between English and Zulu in conversation – because there are some things that just have to be expressed in your mother tongue.There are also really beautiful phrases of affirmation, encouragement, affection that are in Zulu. They can’t really be translated properly and deserve to be preserved in their original form. As proud Zulu’s we realised we wanted to have these words and phrases in our spaces.Our belief is that there many other people who will want to have this stationery and homeware in their houses and offices too.
S: In a time where digital rules and globalisation makes us more of others than ourselves, what would you say makes vernacular so necessary?
Norma :
Vernacular is necessary because it is unique and beautiful and authentic. It is therefore a part of our hearts.
S: Has your business been sustainable? Any advice for Creatives who want to head that way?
N:
Our business is still young – we are in our second year right now. It’s been hard but very satisfying to start and then begin to grow the business. Our advice to creatives is to start now and start small.
Don’t wait until you’ve found the perfect logo/brand colours/website etc. The customer won’t choose your product over another because you got the branding colours ‘right’.
They’ll choose your product over another because it works for them and meets a need. So, the sooner you start testing what works and doesn’t work – and what specific need you hope to meet, the sooner you’ll see if you have a customer base and the sooner you’ll be able to meet the needs of that customer base.
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