Ras Judah sells local crafts in Wellington
Gasebalwe Seretse | Wednesday September 24, 2014 11:11
Speaking in an interview with Showbiz, Ras Judah, who also happens to be an artist said, “I have been living in the South Pacific for the last 10 years being active in the performing arts industry. As I interacted with businesses that deal with fine arts, I realised that there is a gap in the market for African crafts and that’s how the concept came about”.
He further said that his shop currently specialises in selling Botswana baskets, which he imports through Botswanacrafts Marketing and African Jewellery, which he gets from Earth Africa and South Africa. Botswana baskets, which are mostly made in the northern part of the country, are handcrafted. The baskets are used for both decorative and storage purposes. They can be used to store items such as jewellery, fruits, grains and other household items.
“The most common artworks in these parts are the Maori carvings, which are very intricate. There are also woven arts of various Pacific cultures such as Fijian, Samoan and Tongan. The Botswana arts are unique and the patterns and materials in our basketry are unique to Botswana. Compared to all South Pacific arts, Botswana arts are very different,” Ras Judah said. He further revealed that part of Tau Crafts’ growth plan is to include African fashion wear and fine crafts in the shop. The shop also has an online wing, which means they are able to sell some of the crafts internationally. Ras Judah said he is first and foremost a musician and owns a record label in New Zealand.
“Tau Crafts is an extension of my South Pacific-based record label, Tau Music Company, so this automatically adds the music to our products. The plan is to also specialise in African music just like we are currently doing with crafts,” he said. The Rastafarian from the little village of Thabala near Serowe started playing traditional music instruments like segaba and setinkane at an early age.
Some of the bands that he has been part of include The Artists Band, Crucial Band and the more popular Loshalaba. In 1995 he co-founded the equally popular Steppin’ Razor, which recorded its debut album, African Children in 2000. The artist travelled to countries such as Greece, Scotland, England, Ireland and South Africa before relocating to New Zealand in 2004. Some of the solo albums he has released are Land Of My Birth, Jah Warrior and Afrikan Village Cry.
“I am an artist and my core business is music, which I have been doing for the last 21 years. I am currently in the studio working on the fourth solo album due for release this December,” Ras Judah said.