As Hungary continues on its bumpy road into the Free World, a small group of Americans have saved or restored more than 300 jobs in Hoadvasarhely, southwestern Hungary.
The group, Aid to Artisans (ATA), has been boosting employment among crafts people around the world for 20 years.
ATA, with just nine employees, works with other businesses and organizations to help artisans and find them markets. It does this by providing assistance at all stages: in training, product development, production, marketing and facilitating access to buyers.
“From the point of view of empowering women, these crafts hold the greatest promise,” said Tom Aageson, ATA’s executive director. “The potential for economic independence is tremendous.”
The non-profit organization identified ceramics as a potentially lucrative Hungarian export and worked with local residents to develop a product line for the international market and help one region recover from Hungary’s reeling economy, struggling in its transition from Communism.
“It really has been from the frying pan to the fire,” Clare Brett Smith, ATA president, said of Hungary’s economy. “Everyone thought that just because they had taken this risk were with the free world, everything would be wonderful.
“What’s needed is a willingness to start over. People who have benefited are just beginning to notice it’s going to get better.”
Smith’s optimism comes from hands-on experience and two decades of ATA success stories.
Aageson said, “The test of our work is to review projects five years from now and see if the ATA clients have continued to prosper.”
Although the Hungarian ceramics project hasn’t hit the five-year mark yet, it appears to be thriving. Plates, cups, saucers, bowls and other serving pieces bearing traditional Hungarian motifs are moving briskly in local markets and overseas.
Part of the credit for this project goes to Judith Espinar and Maggie Nugent, partners in a ceramics production and marketing firm with offices in Santa Fe and San Francisco.
The pair hooked up with ATA after visiting its booth at the January 1994 New York Gift Show. Here they came upon artifacts from all corners of the globe, including samples of traditional Hungarian ceramics: stylized flowers, geometric patterns, hearts, birds and animals created with slip and brush techniques.
“Our focus has been in keeping the patterns and styles of traditional pottery alive, so I expressed my interest in this project right away,” Espinar recalled.
“They (ATA) checked me out and said I could be part of it and put me in touch with a lot of key people. My husband and I then went to Hungary and met with a lot of the potters.”
To assist Espinar, ATA supplied a report on Hungarian ceramics that included specific regional traditions, the location of folk art museums and ceramics factories and numerous contacts. ATA staffers then briefed them on the area’s cultural and social issues and found them a driver who spoke English.
“I know that getting a driver doesn’t seem like a lot, but it made a huge difference and was much easier to get around,” Espinar said.
Espinar and Nugent, who also spent time in Hungary, chose artist Kinga Szabo, of Budapest, to design a collection that could be targeted to an American market. Szabo, 56, had been chief designer at the Mesotur Cooperative in the ’60s and had won awards for her revival of traditional Hungarian styles.
As they worked with Szabo, Espinar and Nugent also found a ceramics factory. Szabo developed a line based upon guidelines Espinar and Nugent had provided, and production commenced.
Not right away though, according to Espinar.
“They’d been making wonderful products, but there wasn’t much consistency or quality control. Plus they were using lead. We had to raise standards.”
As a result, workers in this Hungarian factory can now produce for others too. They’ve learned color control, how to make glazes without lead and have implemented a production method that allows them to compete well in the international market.
“This factory had gone from being owned by the government to being privately owned — basically a management buyout,” Espinar said. “In the beginning, it had been a very uncertain move for many, and people were scared to death. But they now have a measure of security in their lives they didn’t have before.”
That includes Szabo.
“With this job I am able to earn enough money to keep my house. I live with my mother, who is 84, and can help my children.
“This has been so good for me, a really great, great thing in my life. They are wonderful people at Aid to Artisans, and I love them. They have been able to greatly help Hungarian artists.”
ATA, funded largely through the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development and partly through individual and corporate donations, is best likened to the Peace Corps, Smith said. Every year, the State Department designates the kinds of foreign aid it will provide — funding for micro enterprises, for instance — and organizations such as ATA are invited to apply for grants.
In more than 30 countries over the last two decades, ATA’s efforts have improved the quality of life for many, from impoverished Honduran mountain dwellers (who now produce cornhusk and clay crafts), to Palestinian textile producers in Jordan.
In Ghana, ATA helped rebuild the market for glass beads, textiles and lost wax “gold weights,” which had virtually disappeared, and which also yielded some unexpected results. Not only could families better afford food, clothing and health care, but also some villagers were able to finance dowries.
“It would have been very difficult to undertake the marriage rites if ATA/ATAG (Aid to Artisans, Ghana) had not improved their incomes,” Aageson said. “This definitely has had a ripple effect.”
Despite such feedback, however, ATA’s overall impact is hard to gauge, Aageson said.
“Just in Peru now, we’re reaching out to more than 4,000, directly and indirectly, through our work. And that’s just one example.”
Although ATA itself is non-profit, contractors such as Espinar and Nugent are not, and contractors’ fees constitute a large chunk of ATA’s budget. Because of the nature of the work, though, many often accept less money for their services than is customary, and some simply volunteer.
Smith said, “Many find this a fulfilling interlude to their commercial work.” ATA products are now available in hundreds of retail locations throughout the United States, including the Art Institute of Chicago (museum shop), 312-443-3600. For additional locations, call ATA at 860-677-1649.
PRODUCTS TO AID TO ARTISANS
The following is a selection of products made available to the global marketplace through Aid to Artisans.
ASIA AND THE NEAR EAST
Nepal–button molds, character dolls, sweaters
Indonesia–terra-cotta products
Bangladesh–pillow covers, linens, picture frames
Jordan– rugs, pillow covers
Kyrgyzstan–rugs, clothing and accessories, candleholders
Tonga–baskets, frames briefcases
AMERICAS
Honduras–wreaths, ceramic angels, seed pod nativities
Brazil–palm products, brooms, baskets, seed jewelry
Ecuador–tagua-nut jewelry, buttons, drawer pulls
Mexico–terra-cotta figurines, gourds, istle fiber body scrubbers
Dominican Republic–sisal products
Guatemala–baskets, potpourri
Peru–candlesticks, pots, figurines, painted glass, rugs, sweaters, furniture
EUROPE
Hungary–ornaments, Christmas stockings, bed and table covers
Russia–picture frames, ornaments, dolls, boxes
Romania–wooden spoons, bowls, plates, tiles, rugs, leather accessories
AFRICA
Ghana–baskets, pottery, furniture, brass accessories, picture frames, trays, pillows, jewelry
Somalia–textiles, home furnishings
Source: Aid to Artisans
