Norma Nugent's Hardanga

Monday, July 27, 2009

FRESH from her recent visit to New Mexico where she represented Jamaica at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, 62-year-old St Mary resident, Norma Nugent is all smiles as she shares her experience being the only Jamaican to ever make it to the event.

"It was very good, because I got to travel and meet a lot of people from right across the globe and it was my first time in the US," Nugent shared from her work area at the Richmond Women Centre in St Mary.

After going through a rigorous application and selection process, Nugent was one of 130 persons from over 400 applicants to show her craft at the market. Persons were selected on their standards of authenticity, quality and marketability. She was the only person doing Hardanga.

Surrounded by about 10 of her co-workers, Nugent spoke freely of an almost extinct craft, which for her, has not only provided an income but has given her what she considers the opportunity of a lifetime.

"Hardanga is a kind of needlework, where we pull thread from the fabric and then work whatever design we want into it," she explained.

For her, the craft is second nature as she has been doing it from the 80s, but for a newcomer, she said it could prove to be extremely difficult, a sentiment that was echoed by some of her co-workers.

"It's not easy, you have to learn it before you can say it easy," piped in Isyln Byro.

Even for Nugent, designing a shirt can take her between three to four days.

"I sit out most nights when she's sewing to keep her company," said Nugent's husband of 39 years, Dolphy.

When doing Hardanga, one wrong move can spoil the entire design and cause the wastage of material. The women begin with the basic measurement and marking of the material, but it's after that, that the real work begins. A needle is then used to pull the fabric and then the fingers are used to create the design.

For Nugent, being able to show visitors how to Hardanga was the highlight of her visit to New Mexico. Secondary to that, however, was meeting individuals from the 130 countries represented at the market. Some of them were experts in areas of jewellery making, wood carving, hand painting, weaving and designing textile and apparel among other things.

"A lot of persons wanted to know how to do it (Hardanga).

They were very, very impressed, especially when I did the demonstrations," she said

But while the interest in her craft was quite evident in New Mexico, Nugent said many persons in Jamaica find Hardanga designs extremely expensive. Even so, she and her colleagues who practise the art, have been able to eke out a living from attending and selling items at several local art and craft shows.

"We sell especially during September to February because that is the tourist season," she explained.

In fact, it was a tourist from the United Kingdom - who had purchased some Hardanga designs last year and brought them to the Santa Fe Market to show them off who had suggested that Nugent enter the annual event. She said a friend downloaded the application form and she filled it out and sent it off. A few months later, she received a call from the organisers saying that she was accepted.

Nugent said she and her colleagues at the Jamaica Hardanga Heritage Trust spent countless hours preparing designs for the event. Fortunately the designs were a big hit and most of them were sold off.

The Jamaica Hardanga Trust was established in the 1980s with the aim of bringing together women who practise the craft, and to train others interested in learning. The trust receives an annual grant from the Bureau of Women's Affairs, which helps them to train at least 18 persons each year.

Nugent believes the constant training of persons will help to preserve the craft.

Sadly though, it is hard for an individual to make a living just from practising the craft and so Nugent also rears and sells poultry to sustain herself and her family.

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Norma Nugent's Hardanga