Press
Press
I am the person to talk to. I source every piece myself, I know the weavers by name, and I answer my own email.
If you are writing about Indigenous craft, collectible fiber art, artisan sourcing, or how handwoven work lives in interiors, what you need is on this page. If it is not here, ask me.
Boilerplate
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RFB Woven Art sells one of a kind handwoven art sourced directly from Indigenous artisans in Panama, Colombia, Rwanda and Ghana. The business has held direct relationships with the same weaving families for over twenty years. Jen Kuyper has run it since 2012.
RFB Woven Art is a collection of one of a kind handwoven art, sourced directly from Indigenous artisans and cooperatives in Panama, Colombia, Rwanda and Ghana. The business has held direct relationships with the same weaving families for over twenty years, and has been run by Jen Kuyper since 2012. She travels to Panama and Colombia to buy in person from the weavers themselves, and works with established cooperatives in Rwanda and Ghana. Six traditions are represented, including Wounaan hösig di basketry from Panama's Darién, werregue coil work from Colombia's Chocó, and Emberá woven masks and figures. Nothing repeats. Every piece is chosen one at a time, priced so the maker is paid properly, and sold with the story of who made it.
Jen Kuyper is the founder of RFB Woven Art in its current form, based in Placitas, New Mexico. She took over the business in 2012. She is a member of Weave A Real Peace and the Ethnic Arts Council of Los Angeles.
Story angles
Twenty years with the same families
The business has bought from the same Wounaan families since 2002. I took it over in 2012 and have kept those relationships going since. Payments go out monthly whether or not I have baskets in hand, and that money has covered school fees, boat motors, fishing nets, housing and medical care.
A basket fine enough to hold water
Wounaan hösig di is stitched with a needle, coil by coil, chunga palm fiber wrapped over a nahuala core. The finest work is dense enough that the vessel will hold water. One piece in the collection took eight years to complete.
Six traditions, one buyer
Panama, Colombia, Rwanda and Ghana. Wounaan baskets, werregue coil work from the Chocó, Emberá woven masks and figures, Ticuna painted bark cloth, Rwandan Agaseke, and the sculptural grass baskets of Bolgatanga. Nothing is bought by the batch. If a piece is not extraordinary it does not come home.
Ten years at the San Francisco Fall Show
Once a year the whole collection is in one room. October 15 to 18, Fort Mason, booth D14. Press passes and a walkthrough with me can be arranged.
Images
Images are available on request for editorial use. Tell me the piece or the story you are working on and I will send what I have, along with the resolution, so you know what you are working with before you plan a layout.
Credit line: Courtesy RFB Woven Art
I can supply finished work, weavers at work, and the villages the pieces come from. Please ask before using anything pulled from the site. Photographs of named weavers are used with their knowledge and I want to keep it that way.
Contact
Jen Kuyper
Founder, RFB Woven Art
jen@woven.art