In Her Hands: Craftswomen Changing the World

By Toby Tuttle and Paola Gianturco

Book Overview

Foreword by Alice Walker. From the dollmakers of Turkey to the batik artists of Indonesia, women in developing economies provide for their families by creating and selling indigenous crafts which draw on cultural traditions. Often driven by the harsh realities of poverty, these craftswomen come together in groups creating a kind of micro-enterprise, often strengthened into cooperatives through financial aid. In this volume we hear their individual voices, culled from five years of travelling and meeting these resourceful and creative women.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576871843
• ISBN13: 9781576871843
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: powerHouse Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 2.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.7" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic , Beautiful, Inspiring, Sacred Book No Less!!!!

This book is absolutely all that the other readers have said. It is precious and very important for all the reasons above. In addition, it has excellent Cooperative and Fair Trade resources. I left my copy in Brazil for others,am now in Mexico, and must have another copy to share with others, and for my home. This book lives in my dreams and adds color, meaning, and celebration to our world. Thank you!!!! Sakanta Running Wolf

This book does make a difference!

The glorious color photos and stories have inspired me to meet the craftswomen. I took the book with me on assignment in Guatemala with women weavers and watched the delight and pride from the weavers as they enjoyed the pictures of women like themselves. Each story is a challenge to all of us to seek out these crafts and use them in our daily lives. The well written stories by Paola and the personal essays by Toby are inspirational. They captured the reality of life and the possibilities. I left my copy in Guatemala and just ordered two more as gifts. This is a beautiful book.

A wonderful holiday gift for all my female friends

In Her Hands: Craftswomen Changing the World is a gorgeous photojournalistic volume about women around the world who make indigenous crafts. The crafts, varied and wonderful as they are, are sold at market so that the women can have an income stream to improve their economic situation. Money earned this way is most often used to pay for children's education and improved nutrition. These are often women who live in abject poverty, many without the help of income-generating husbands, who are passionate about giving their children better lives. One admires their focus, their intelligence, and the joy with which they live their lives, as documented by the two author/photographers, Paola Gianturco and Toby Tuttle. This is a wonderful coffee-table sized book with glorious images for anyone who loves crafts, travel, photography and for anyone who thinks and cares about the lives of women around the world. Well-done! I've already bought three!

Truly Great Book!

Amazing photography and unique insight into far lands and distant peoples. "In Her Hands" takes you on a journey to the places you've always wanted to go and into the lives of the people you wish you'd meet when you travel. Women around the world, working to create art and improve their lives. No flashy get-rich-quick success stories, no explosive dot-com egos, but real people who truly earn their success, day by day. The book deals fairly and honestly with complex issues of traditional societies around the world, as women invest their own money in the education of their children and change their local economies. Beautiful, color-rich images help tell the tale all along. Like photography from LIFE magazine or National Geo, the photos make stories of In Her Hands almost leap from the page. I highly recommend this to anyone and will be buying many copies as gifts for the holidays!