Welcome to Safi, Jordan - a town of dusty roads, camels, goats and tomato farms. Here on the shores of the Dead Sea you will find the Safi Crafts women’s collective making innovative crafts that express the unique experience of life in the Jordan Valley.  

 

Over the last ten years we have become known for our locally designed textiles that show images of daily life in Safi. We hand stencil and hand embroider our wall hangings, cushion covers and bed covers using permanent paint. All our pieces are hand dyed using mud, tannin and iron dye techniques we developed ourselves. You won’t find anything like our crafts anywhere in the world!

 

Safi Crafts was started in 1999 when Jean Bradbury came from Seattle as a volunteer art teacher. Because the project was unfunded our ambitions were humble. We used only supplies that could be bought or found in Safi. Occasionally a trip was made to Amman to buy stencil paint. Jean researched traditional natural dyes and we developed our mud dyeing technique as well as experimenting with tea, iron, pomegranate, turmeric and hibiscus. Jean’s visits to Safi to help with design and marketing ended in 2001 and the women of Safi Crafts continued to innovate and produce their charming work. After working from Amsha’s living room and then Nofeh’s kitchen the project received a large grant from the Jordanian government to build a women’s society building. Apart from this important support Safi Crafts remains self sustaining thanks to the management of wonderful Nofeh Nawasra. In 2011 Jean returned to Safi with help from Aramex Jordan to assist with new designs and marketing.

 

Safi Crafts has made a difference in the lives of its members by providing income. But we love it most because of the fun we have, the creativity we explore and the power we have developed to manage our own business. It is truly our own and we are teaching our daughters and sons the dignity of critical thinking through our example.