Beads, bone and brass: The wearable art that’s drawing tourists to Zanzibar

She works under her internationally renowned brand, “Tribal Trend, by Shiko Onyango.” Her wearable art travels far beyond Zanzibar, adorning international stars such as Janet Jackson, Angélique Kidjo, Nigerian superstar Yemi Alade, among many other global icons.

Her work is rooted in the centuries-old Maasai tradition of hand-beading, a meticulous craft that requires that each bead be threaded in an intricate geometric pattern to make bracelets, earrings, headgear, and other wearable art.

Shiko is becoming an integral part of the cultural artefacts on the island, showcasing at the Zanzibar International Fashion Festival; now her pieces are among the treasured items a tourist carries as they board their airplanes back home.

Wearable art attracts conversation long before one pulls out their phone to show friends and family the pictures they took in Zanzibar; the earrings and unique necklaces Shiko designs have always been conversation starters among Europeans and Americans when they return home.  Each piece is painstakingly crafted by hand, bead by bead. Beyond beads, she transforms traditional African craft and recycled materials into contemporary fashion and art.

She re-purposes animal bones, waste leather, cowrie shells, aluminium, and even sisal into masterpieces. ”Before modern clothes, in Africa, we had wearable art; we used cowhide to make clothes, and I have always been curious about the creativity behind that,” she says. “I’m trying to bring them back to life in the modern world.  Yeah, basically, it's putting wearable art back to life in this modern world,” she adds.

Zanzibar's tourism has remarkably diversified from the island's beaches to culture and heritage, and artists like Shiko are pushing the cultural artefact creativity beyond the presumed limits.

She is not afraid to experiment with materials other artists wouldn't even touch, and that is what makes her one of the most sought-after ornament designers on the island.

Her pieces are connected to her African identity and her Maasai craftsmanship, refusing to conform to generic fashion accessories.

Western tourists have embraced her creations, even as some of her fellow Africans would rather buy European or French brands, a mindset she is working hard to change.

Shiko is at the forefront of showing the beauty and complexity of African accessories and designs. Celebrating African culture and ingenuity.

“Some people think that our artefacts are behind. But they forget that we, Africa, are the cradle of creativity, and other people came and learned, even copied what we do and claimed it as their own. But we think African design is primitive,” she says. Asked if her art pieces can be compared in quality and durability to wearable art produced in European cities known for fashion, she said Africa has always inspired and been imitated by the world.

“My pieces are not the same as the ones in Europe; it can't be compared. We are the original; people from Paris come to buy from Africa. We are the source of talent. In Paris, you'll find ten things looking the same because it's machine-made. In Africa, you will not find two things looking the same. It is made by different people with different energy, with different timelines; it can never be the same. Never, ever,” Shiko reiterates.

Strategically, the art and culture scene in Zanzibar draws tourists to the streets of Stone Town, momentarily away from the beach, enticing them to go for sightseeing and eventually stay on the island longer than planned.

That is a win for the island's tourism, as well as giving the Zanzibar creative industry much-needed worldwide exposure and clientele. Shiko aims for her wearable art to be more than a souvenir; she said her pieces tell stories and pay homage to all the African cultures that have influenced her over the years she has been designing her art.

She engages her customers and builds a bond and personal relationship with whoever buys her work. A friendship bond is created that would last longer than the tourism visit.

Her wearable pieces have trended across social media; their appeal makes them very “instagrammable”, which in turn it has helped her gain a cult following on Instagram and when tourists post her work, it's a free advertisement that has on occasions driven traffic to her page, and gained more clients but it has also helped market Zanzibar as a destination, different marketing mechanism from a conventional tourism billboard. Shiko's work sits at the intersection, particularly combining fashion, art, culture, and tourism.

And Zanzibar is exploiting that connection with fashion shows, destination shoots, and local and international designers are now being embraced and collaborating with the tourism industry at an unprecedented rate.

From taking a leap of faith as a high school student in a Maasai village to learn how to make jewellery to be at the forefront of the wearable art creativity industry, Shiko has dreams to make sure her work reaches all corners of the globe.

Whenever tourists come to Zanzibar, they have to know it's more than beaches and architecture; The Island as immeasurable cultural attraction and history that visitors can explore. “We have to keep the culture going, the whole ecosystem. From the person who makes art, the people who sell the artist materials, the designers, the whole production process to the person buying the art piece, that's a whole story. Unlike buying generic stuff from a factory,” she says. “And my work takes a lot of time, so that is why it's important to buy, 'cause you are promoting a whole ecosystem. It's not just one person who is involved in making a piece.”

Shiko chose her primary station to be Zanzibar because she believes the island is a melting pot of people from all cultures, and she draws inspiration from that. And that is where she can get her message across: Africa to the world.

“My mission is to put African creativity into the world. Like we are producers and not only consumers of other people's productions.”

She has displayed her artwork in Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Nairobi, Paris, and other cities across Europe, and worn by fashion figure Koya Nyagi in a fashion show in Denver, United States. For now, she has set up her shop in Stone Town, Shangani.  There, she displays her headpieces, neckpieces, armpieces, handpieces, and fingerpieces. She is now planning to work with Zanzibari artists and explore ways they can use the creative industry to promote the island's cultural tourism.

They want to engage tourists and other tourism stakeholders so that visitors can do more than tour the island, but also visit where art is displayed.

They want to show them that Zanzibar is also a place where culture and heritage are preserved through the art pieces and cultural artefacts. “By this, we also keep the culture and heritage alive,” sh explained.