About Us
Loving Africa is the online store of Art Aids Art, a U.S. nonprofit organization.
Loving Africa also temporarily serves as Art Aids Art's main website until its new site launches.
Loving Africa is dedicated to:
- Offering a unique, high quality selection of southern African contemporary handcrafts.
- Generating income for emerging artisans and small collectives, especially those that involve women or people impacted by poverty or HIV/AIDS.
- Directing profits to programs that support literacy, health, and skills training for children and adults in South Africa.
- Utilizing Fair Trade practices, including paying artisans up front for their work at prices they establish.
- Helping people to help themselves.
Art Aids Art promotes education, health, and economic development through the arts in South Africa. Founded in 2003 by educators, we serve adults and children in the Greater Cape Town area, including Khayelitsha.
Residents of Khayelitsha, a township created by the forcible relocation of Black South Africans during the apartheid regime, face a daily struggle for survival due to extreme poverty, substandard living conditions, lack of services, and high rates of domestic violence and HIV/AIDS.
To address these challenges, Art Aids Art established eKhaya eKasi (“Home in the ‘Hood”) Art and Education Centre. eKhaya eKasi houses several small business pilot projects, a rooftop vegetable garden, an art boutique, a children’s after school program, and an extensive children’s multicultural library.
With our U.S. office based in Altadena, California, Art Aids Art’s American activities focus on educating the public about South African culture and the HIV/AIDS crisis through presentations at schools and community centers, and at home-based beadwork fundraisers. Each year, we lead an intergenerational group of volunteers to Cape Town, home of our South African headquarters, to provide services through our own programs and in collaboration with participating South African organizations.
Art Aids Art is a member of the Fair Trade Federation. Our U.S. Nonprofit Federal Tax ID is 91-2199364.
*Art Aids Art’s new website is currently under construction.
