.. ..... karakul wool gathered from sheep on local farms was spun, washed, dyed and woven into beautiful rugs and wall hangings on a farm in central Namibia. Volker Berner, a trained textile designer from Germany, and his Ovambo weavers produced hand-woven rugs that were exhibited and sold world-wide.
In 2009, Volker Berner donated his weaving business to his loyal weavers, and the looms were translocated by road almost 600 kms to Ondangwa, Ovamboland in northern Namibia close to the Angolan border and homeland of the weavers. At a ceremony in February 2009, the Rt. Hon. Nahas Angula, Prime Minister of the Republic of Namibia, hisself an Ovambo, formally celebrated the transfer of ownership of the weavery to his fellow kinsman. Today, the weavers continue in the same excellent craftmanship and conduct the weaving business under the new name DORKAMBO Co-op.
Meike Sweatman, Volker's sister-in-law, who lives in Stowe, Vt, is selling these unique rugs in America - many of them custom ordered. The rugs have been exhibited in Greenwich, Stowe, Nantucket Island, Reno, Washington, DC; Jackson Hole, North East Harbor, New York City, and elsewhere in Canada, Europe and Africa.
2011 Weaversnest