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Made in Aruba, Unique Gifts from Local Artisans
ORANJESTAD ― They are right at the hotels and of- fer unique, locally manu- factured artisan products. Foundation Aruba is orga- nizing an art market that gives you the opportunity to admire and/or purchase some genuine products, all locally produced by local artisans. “This is not your regular souvenir that you may encounter in various Caribbean destinations, this is made in Aruba and only offered here”, says Wendy Op De Weegh, one of the board members of the foundation.
Wendy Op De Weegh, Tia Hurkmans and Gabri- ella Gonzalez are the three board members of Foun- dation Aruba, all artisans themselves. Wendy: “I start-
ed making my own beads of glass and that triggered Tia and Gaby to join. We were friends and we no- ticed that we needed a platform to present our art. We were occasionally or- ganizing events at home, but we were looking for more public.” That is how the three came to the idea to find more local artisans
and encountered a foun- dation that was in a kind of non-active state. They decided to take over and that is how it all started. “2013 our first organized event happened at Fort Zoutman in Oranjestad with Christmas time. It was a big success and from that time on it really took off. More and more artisans were engaged and the govern- ment also initiated the na- tional seal for artisan prod- ucts at that time and pro- vided us with a list of arti- sans that were registered.”
Your Vacation Memory
The aim of the foundation is to engage the artisans that create smaller pieces, lo- cally produced and linked to Aruba. The perfect gift or souvenir. Think of jew- elry in different materials, art with driftwood, soap and skin care, small paint- ings and so on. There is the jewelry made of the tail fin of lion fish by Lionfintas- tic. Lionfish are an invasive species from the Pacific and Indian Ocean, vora- cious eaters with no known
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predators. The handmade soap and skin care from olive oil and shea butter by CC Bath & Body is another unique gift as well as the wonderful jewelry made by recycled materials of Miljenou Tromp. Gloria Fi- liciana creates awesome artisan jewelry from among others genuine Aruban sea glass and what to think of a necklace of driftwood,
created by Wise Wood. Turning a discarded mate- rial into a unique art craft is what Cemu offers you. But there is much more. You really need to check it out for yourselves as this is your chance to bring home a real piece of Aruba. The best vacation memory or genuine gift.
The artisans market is on Mondays at Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort between 4.30 and 6.30 PM, at Tuesdays and Thursdays between 6 and 9 PM at the Marriott Re- sort & Stellaris Casino and at Fridays between 7 and 10 PM at the Renaissance Marketplace in Oranjestad. Check their Facebook Foundation Aruba for more information. q