Fibre with a Difference: Escama purse

As a textile and mixed media artist with a social conscience, I am drawn to fibre that tells a story. On my first trip to San Francisco, I discovered Escama bags and... I didn't buy one. I'm frugal and I tend to think before I spend. By the time I returned to Canada, the Escama bags were stuck in my head and I could not find them anywhere here in the Great White North. Three years later, on a second trip to San Francisco, I bought one. Months later I found them in several art gallery gift shops in Ontario. Go figure.  


The Escama Studio products include information about their cooperative and the makers. My 'Socorro' purse was made by Rosangela Goncalves and according to the Escama website, Rosangela is a 47 year old mother of two children. The Escama products are handmade using post-consumer recycled aluminum pull-tabs that are hand-crocheted together. According to the product tag, they "are made by the women of Cia do Lacra and As Panteras do Lacre, cooperatives located in Brasilia, Brazil."