Artisans Development, Belize

Craft Specialist

Local market development through training and product design & development.

Craft Specialist for the project “Making Tourism Benefit Communities Adjacent to Archaeological Sites (MTBCAAS) funded by European Union and Belizean organizations BTB and NICH.

Daniela designed, in coordination with the Tourism Specialist, Judy Karwacki, a program for capacity-building within Belizean organizations and a certification scheme. The concept aim was supporting the development of artisans near archaeological sites by improving the design, quality, and exhibition of their products.

The assessment included more than 85 artisans from four districts of Belize process included cultural research and the development of an assessment to describe the variety of medias in the country.

The designer worked with artisans developing products in a wide range of skills and techniques: textiles, woodcarving, basketry, slate stone carving, ceramics, experimental jewelry, bamboo, calabash, horn, coconut, and seeds.

With the enthusiastic participation of the artisans the original goal of developing 30 new products was surpassed by almost 700% with the production of 217 new products designed by Daniela.

The MTBCAAS collection was presented in an exclusive exhibition. The event also launched the “Unique Belize Brand” designed by Daniela as part of the certification scheme developed by both consultants.

The entire yearlong project included artisan assessment, cultural research, training curriculum development, market trend preparation, design and product development, quality control, exhibition design, and branding design. The consultant also encouraged the artisans to develop collective retail strategies suggested by her.

During October 2014, the MTBCAAS collection was presented in an exclusive exhibit. The event also served to launch the “Unique Belize Brand” as part of the certification scheme developed by both consultants (tourism and craft specialists) during the project. The exhibition and the Unique Belize brand were both designed by Daniela Viscarra.

The brand “Unique Belize” was created by the consultant as part of a certification system for Belize