The Art of Beading: Creating Beloved Community

Please help me spend a year outside of the United States collaborating with and lifting up indigenous and contemporary bead artisans in Brazil, Ghana, Taiwan, and India through my passion for beading! I will be applying for grants and working full-time over the summer to save up for this life-changing trip, but I need your help.

Donations of any size are much appreciated and I will be forever grateful! ~This will be my first travel experience outside the U.S.

Your donation will go towards funding:

→Flights/Transportation (~$4,450)

→ Luggage (TBD)

→ Food (~$5,436)

→ Bead Workshops/Lessons (TBD)

→ Beads/Supplies (TBD)

Read my letter below for all the details:

Dear Friends & Family,

I have a deep love and passion for beading and jewelry-making. I started beading about 6 years ago as a fun hobby when I stumbled across “Beadahs” (a mother-daughter owned and operated bead store in Santa Monica, CA). The owners told me stories of their travels around the world collecting beads for their store. I was honored to be working with such artifacts. I too wanted to travel because I had never been outside of the United States, but learning about bead cultures made me even more eager to go.

Beads have countless meanings from their size to their shape and color. Some hand-made recycled glass beads are used for coming-of-age ceremonies in Ghana. In Brazil, the womxn of the Yawanawá village monetarily support their families by weaving breathtaking bracelets out of small Czech beads. Through high school and college, beading as an art form continued to ground me and help me build and create new communities.

I pick up a bead and turn it over carefully, letting it roll into the center of my palm. I want to learn its history, its story.

I went through the rigorous year-long process of applying for the Watson Fellowship; “A one-year grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the United States.” I put together a travel plan to learn more about my bead passion, connect with indigenous and contemporary bead artists in four countries (Brazil, Ghana, Taiwan, and India), and collaborate to find ways to engage with these rich bead communities. I titled my project: “The Art of Beading: Creating Beloved Community.” I was a Watson finalist and found out in mid-March that I did not receive the fellowship. I took a day to process the disappointing news. The next morning, with the encouragement of family and friends, I got right to work on plan B.

And so, my goal is still to travel to these four countries starting in August of 2022, but I need your help. I need to experience the world through the eyes of indigenous and contemporary beaders.

Hand-polishing beads made from recycled glass in Ghana:

The magic of beads is that they hold stories of both the past and the present. “Sankofa,” a word and symbol from the Akan tribe in Ghana is depicted as a bird with its head turned to look back and its feet moving forward. The literal translation of Sankofa is: “It is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.” During my travels, I am looking to make meaningful connections between past and present bead cultures. With your help, I will learn firsthand the diversity of histories, traditions, music, art, and community rituals worldwide that center around beads.

Beading is something I love deeply and cherish wholeheartedly. I believe that the simple and universal beauty of a bead can bring diverse groups together, help us understand one another, and show us how connected we truly are. What better way to do this than by immersing myself in the art of beading around the world.

If you have any questions about my trip, feel free to contact me!

See below my rough itinerary as well as some photos of the people I will be staying with, learning from, and collaborating alongside:

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The Art of Beading Itinerary -

Stop 1: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (August 2022 - October 2022)

I will begin my journey, my first time leaving the United States, in Rio de Janeiro. Guilherme Ribeiro, a native Brazilian, is eager to host my visit. My djembe travels with me and I plan to use it wherever I go to make connections and build community. Guilherme is a creative artist and furniture designer and has offered to introduce me to several of his friends who are contemporary bead artists. He also told me about the rich Afro-Brazilian beadwork made through the candomblé religion in Brazil. I will spend my first two months in Rio and then, with the help of JR (Brazilian percussionist), I will travel through the Amazon to the Yawanawá Village where I’ll learn more about their beautiful woven beadwork. The Yawanawa womxn support their families by making and selling their jewelry. They use Czech glass beads and make their own beads from the shells of dried acaí berries.

Watch this video for more information on the Yawanawá and the importance of beading in their community!

If I have time and the resources, I will make a stop in Peru where I’ll connect with artists I’ve been in communication with. Traditional Peruvian beads are ceramic, chunky, round, and hand-decorated with vibrant colors and patterns. See photo below:

Stop 2: Accra & Kopeyia, Ghana (November 2022 - January 2023)

The next stop on my journey is Accra, Ghana. In Accra, Monique, a creative writer and activist, will be waiting expectantly to show me around Ghana’s capital. My drum and I will find our roots here in Ghana. I’ve always wanted to travel to the continent of Africa to connect to my ancestry through music and art. I will work with the contemporary bead artists Charles Nditsi and Elinam, culminating our work together with an art show (possibly several). I will then work on a farm in Accra living with a host family and learning about farming and the land, finding time to travel to bead markets and make new connections. See Hutu at his workshop in Accra below:

Watch this video to learn more about beading in Ghana with bead collector and trader Garbe Muhammad!

In January, I’ll head to the village of Kopeyia, reconnecting with two organizations I have a relationship with through my jewelry business HOMELAND BEADING. These organizations are The Kopeyia Ghana School Fund (KGSF) a public school in the village of Kopeyia, and The Dagbe Cultural Institute and Arts Centre. I will work with Nani Agbeli, a talented Ghanaian drummer and dancer, to find bead workers in Ghana to take lessons from. I will learn more about the art of beading in Ghana and look forward to collaborating with these hardworking, talented artists. See below some students in a class at KGSF:

Stop 3: Taitung, Taiwan (February 2023 - April 2023)

Suzi, a teacher, awaits my arrival at The Taromak Tribal Experimental Elementary School in Taitung, Taiwan. I am thankful that I have connected with this generous person who wants to teach me about beading in the Taromak tribe. While English is not Suzi’s first language, her desire to communicate with me through email has already made me feel welcome. Suzi is arranging a place for me to stay, offering me a volunteer opportunity at the elementary school, and inviting me to take beading classes from the Taromak people. See below:

Suzi also has connections to the Paiwan people, who live near the Taromak. Paiwanese beads reflect gender roles, belief systems, as well as socioeconomic status and class. The glass beads are called “ata” or “gata” (from the word “maloata”) which means “the formation of fruit.” The “dripa” is a special type of necklace consisting of three or more, carefully designed strands of glass beads. This is commonly known as a “nobility necklace” and the five-string dripa is a symbol of the highest class status. In the Laiyi Township, the dripa can only be worn by women whereas in the Taiwu Township men are also allowed to wear the dripa. There are many villages to visit on the east coast of Taitung. From festivals to the influence of modern art forms, indigenous beading culture lives on in the people of Taiwan. See below a woman wearing the dripa:

Stop 4: Mumbai & Gujarat, India (May 2023 - July 2023)

Mumbai India is the final destination of my year of bead immersion. India has a rich history in beading and fabric embroidery. Pranati, a visual artist and teacher, has enthusiastically offered to connect me to people I can learn from in her home country. Radhi Parekh is one of those contacts. Radhi runs an art gallery in Mumbai called “Artisans” and is well versed in Indian arts and crafts. Radhi’s sister Gopi Vaid is a designer of clothes and runs her own workshops. I am excited to look into an internship with Radhi to learn from the beading artisans she collaborates with from neighboring states and put on a culminating art show with an indigenous bead artist. See Artisans in the heart of Mumbai below:

I will travel to the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan to learn about “Moti Bharat,” a traditional beadwork style. Sitaben Chavda is a master Moti Bharat beader and teacher of the craft. I am motivated to learn from her and find ways to give back to her practice. Moti Bharat requires small, delicate precision and patience. Each bead is passed through a thread on a needle to create rows that form patterns and images of animals, Lord Ganesha, and Krishna. Artists create unique patterns as they work. This beading style has its roots in female culture and tradition in Gujarat and Rajasthan. I am inspired to find contacts in these communities through Radhi and others. Culminating my art of beading travels in India will offer yet another perspective on the beauty and cultural significance of beading across the world. See Sitaben Chavda below with some of her beaded pieces:

Thank you for reading and for supporting my passions and dreams! Again, donations of any size are much appreciated. I will keep you all updated on my planning progress and what I am able to do come August :)