Welcome to our blog! We’ve created this space for you to keep up with the growing brand of One Bead At a Time. This project was born through the vision of Nana Sao who is originally from Accra, Ghana but grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. Growing up in South Africa, Nana was exposed to the cultural tradition of beadwork. His vision was to bring this beautiful hand crafted art form to the rest of the world, as these artisans do not have access to global audiences.
Through this OBAAT was born under the Oriaikhi-Sao Foundation. The Foundation’s focus is to empower youth to become self-sufficient by providing financial support to access quality education, funding the provision of world class healthcare and health services and supporting the development of art and young artists through the funding of art projects and providing materials for the creation of artistic media.
Not only does Nana Sao help those in need through his foundation, he also is a big part of the art community where he sits on the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair board. Drawing reference to the fifty-four countries that constitute the African continent, 1-54 is a sustainable and dynamic platform that is engaged in contemporary dialogue and exchange.
Our team includes the following dedicated volunteers:
Botsang Ramorwa – South Africa Production Manager
Susy Castro – Operations Manager
Anna Kiss – Productions Assistant
Dayana Pinaeva – Designer Assistant
We started with our female range that is designed and produced in our factory in Johannesburg. We later developed a male range that is designed by upcoming female jewelry designers in London using Ghanaian beads and recycled materials using innovative techniques. These London based designers will travel to South Africa to teach our local Beaders these new techniques; we’re all about females helping one another!
Stay tuned on our blog and social media to see our progress and updates!
