Downtown Raleigh Alliance

View All News

Artists at Work and a Ribbon Rose Workshop

Zeinabheba

May’s Artists at Work at the N.C. Museum of History are artisans from around the world. Members of the Refugee Women’s Micro-Enterprise Initiative will demonstrate weaving, embroidery and other skills they have brought with them to North Carolina. Come watch these women Friday to Sunday, May 4 to 6, from 1 to 3 p.m. Admission is free.

On Friday, Josephine Moutimanakanga from the Congo will make clothing. Joining her on Saturday and Sunday are Hgong Rcom, Hpip Hsui and Dega from Vietnam. They will weave on looms and create beautiful fabric.

The Refugee Women’s Micro-Enterprise Initiative (RWMI) was developed by the Lutheran Family Services of the Carolinas in 2004 to “empower refugee women to use their artistic talents towards self-sufficiency.” The women have faced hardships in their homelands, and after arriving in America, have met considerable barriers in their efforts to provide for themselves and their families. With non-transferable skills, limited language proficiency and many family obligations, the RWMI gives them a creative outlet for generating income.

Since 1976, micro-enterprise initiatives around the world have grown rapidly. They help alleviate poverty, especially in rural areas of Third World countries and depressed areas of developed nations, by providing small loans to groups of individuals and very small businesses. These “micro” loans (usually $35,000 or less) provide capital not available through traditional banks.

The concept of micro-enterprise was founded by Dr. Mohammad Yunnus, a Bangladeshi banker and economist, and emerged in the developing world through the Grameen Bank (Bank of the Poor) in Bangladesh in 1976.

Ribbon Rose Workshop
Ribbons have adorned ladies’ fashions for centuries. Learn how to make vintage and contemporary ribbon roses using basic hand-sewing techniques on Saturday, May 12, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The workshop is $15 per person and $10 for Museum of History Associates. Call 919-807-7992 by May 4 to register.

For more information about museum events, call 919-807-7900 or visit ncmuseumofhistory.org.

Image: Zeinabheba: Meet members of the Refugee Women’s Micro-Enterprise Initiative. These artisans from around the world will demonstrate weaving, embroidery and other skills they have brought with them to North Carolina.

Press Contacts:
Susan Friday Lamb, 919-807-7943
B.J. Davis, 919-807-7996
# # #

The N.C. Museum of History’s hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The museum is part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, an agency of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. The department’s Web site is www.ncculture.com.