Ten Thousand Villages in the Princeton Shopping Center will directly connect women shoppers in Princeton to women artisans in Mumbai (Bombay), India, with a photo and a greeting in celebration of Women’s Friendship Day on Saturday.
Women shoppers who visit the store will be invited to add on their own simple decorations and then take home a textile square.
To make a personal connection between Princeton women and Indian women, store staff will take a photo of the customer with the joint creation and will give her an opportunity to write a greeting to the artisan in India who created one of the original squares.
The women artisans in India who designed the textile squares and who will receive the greetings work with MarketPlace, a nonprofit fair trade organization with headquarters in Skokie, Ill.
MarketPlace increases economic opportunities for women artisans working with 14 artisan-controlled cooperatives in India.
MarketPlace sells its intricate clothing and home décor through a catalog and Web site as well as in over 300 boutique stores throughout the United States. Ten Thousand Villages in Princeton sells a selection of women’s jackets made by the artisans working with Marketplace.
For more information about Ten Thousand Villages’ Women’s Friendship Day activities, call Rowena Gross or Kat O’Connor at (609) 683-4464.
Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit organization supporting Third World artisans and practitioners of traditional crafts.
