With Covid rife and the never-ending economic chaos in Zimbabwe, the sudden absence of international buyers has magnified the great hardships experienced by our stone and metal artists. Birdwoods is determined to remain their largest and most consistent customer, so we have been 'shopping virtually' - working with artists via WhatsApp to view and select pieces and then remitting money directly to them via World Remit. At this stage, we have purchased two containers of sculpture (around 400 pieces) and, while not an ideal process, we will keep going with this work-around while we all wait for a 'new normal' when international travel is possible.
We have built up really strong relationships with the artists and their communities and we are so glad we have kept going, to help them keep going.