About

My great love for playing with colors and materials from nature, and discovering indigenous cultures and their traditions, is the golden thread in my work.

There is for everyone something personal to discover in this.

It feels like a party for me to be able to play with all the beautiful things I encounter along the way, and to share this.

Senegal

At first it was the music that drew me to Senegal. For about ten years before I dared to go, I was completely under the spell of music from Senegal and Mali. In dreams, while painting, in the street: again and again I met people from Senegal, saw faces and heard traditional drums and rhythms. Nothing else interested me. Whenever I could, I was listening to music and going to concerts and festivals.

Soon I felt I wanted to take djembe lessons. After playing the djembe for a few years, my Malian djembe teacher organised a two-week trip to Senegal. It felt like the perfect first step: to start with the group, and later explore the country on my own. That was five years ago.

Every year, when I am there in the winter months, I feel I am coming home. I can be completely myself and I am completely welcome, in a society where stress is unknown and judgement doesn't exist. Life there feels raw and pure, and warm at the same time. People are very open; distance and isolation don't exist. Deeply connected with God, or the greater whole, knowing that we are all the same. I come to rest. No longer the feeling that I constantly have to do all kinds of things. Life feels more human.

By now I have traded the djembe for the kora, and I take lessons when we are in Senegal, next to working on the new Jantebi collection.

I could have clothes made anywhere in the world where I can connect with authentic handwork and traditions, and maybe that will come too. But Senegal will always be the golden thread and the base of the collection, simply because this country and its people are in my heart, and it is my home.

The financial situation in Senegal is, to say the least, very hard right now, while there are so many talented people. Surviving. Every time I am there, the poverty touches me deeply. How beautiful is it if we can lend a hand, by letting people do what they are good at and paying them a fair wage?

Our dream is to grow with Jantebi, and to create a beautiful community where all kinds of arts and traditional crafts can flourish. Maybe one day a centre with lessons and internships: a place where creative people can meet and work together, and earn a fair wage at the same time.

I am overjoyed with my dear husband Souleymane and our beautiful little son Issa. We have bought a piece of land south of Dakar and will soon start building. Step by step, we will shape our dream there.

Why I make clothes

Senegal is my base, my home, the place where I most love to be.

Besides supporting the people there, I hope the clothes awaken a sense of the beauty and strength of traditional handwork and traditions, and how much joy they can bring. Small or big works of art, made with a lot of attention, time and love, can touch something deep in a person.

With every piece I hope to give comfort, durability and a lot of joy, connected to a country that, as far as I am concerned, deserves to be much better known.

I’d love to meet you!

In love,
Marieke