Page 25 - Minister Otmar Oduber

Artists consider Cosecha THE official opening of Cosecha at Zout-
a dream come true
manstraat 1 recently took place. Cosecha is a
6 LOCAL gallery where local artists can exhibit their art
pieces and sell these with interested people.
The opening of Cosecha is a dream come true
for artist Carina Molina.
Her products which contain the made in Aruba
seal, a seal of excellence are now more acces-
sible to our community and tourists.

Carina explains that she launched a founda-
tion especially for artists 2 years ago, the foun-
dation works in tight collaboration with the
Department of Culture and C.R.A.F.T. towards
advancements in the arts sector. The opening
of Cosecha is one clear result of their efforts.
Carina Molina makes jewels, belts and bags
from re-usable materials like car or bicycle
tires. She was inspired to do this 3 years ago
when she notices the usefulness of these ma-
terials, ever since then she used them rather
than throwing them out.

Her philosophy is ‘from trash to treasure’
meaning that her products look like treasures
even though they were made out of materials
that were initially destined to be thrown out.
She regularly meets tourists that ask her where
they sell authentic Aruban products. Now she
can refer them to the monumental building
which is not only beautiful but also contains
a variety of local art pieces.

Maritza Erasmus is a sculptor that has also
been involved with Cosecha since the start.
She explains that Cosecha is just part of the
entire project.
Mrs. Erasmus says: “Workshops that motivate
our artists to create authentic handmade art
pieces that clearly display our culture and
Flora and Fauna will be introduced soon. I took
the initiative to make some new products such
as a dera gai themed Christmas tree. I also have
a series of snowman made out of our beach
sand to inspire our visitors to create their own
pieces when at the beach.” She continued by
saying that working on these pieces inspires
her to create more interesting pieces.

Artists are extremely happy that they finally
have a gallery and a special one at that since
it’s located in a monument which gives more
meaning to their products.
Consumers are offered a variety of authentic
Aruban products, under one roof and are
even given the privilege of getting to know
the products better since artists are present
at the gallery and can tell them more about
their products.

Saturday, August 8 2015 - ARUBA TRAVELLER