Thu, 17 Nov 2005

Hello Jerry,

We are finally almost back to normal. What a wonderful trip!

I want to say once again that overall we felt our trip to Kazakhstan was very successful, considering it was the first time they've done such a show
and how little time we had to prepare. A few comments in regard to what might be changed to make the next one even more successful:

Unbeknown to Istergan and the artists, the exhibition hall came with sales personnel who had control over the sales of the jewelry. They also
imposed a 35% commission on the jewelry that was sold. This caused our jewelry, which already seemed excessively expensive compared to Kazakh prices, to be out of reach to most people. We were forced to reduce our prices to wholesale or below, just to be able to make any sales at all. We sold several low end pieces, but we ended up with less than $1,000.00 all told. They bent over backwards to help us, and even extended our time at the exhibition hall by one more day, in order to take advantage of an influx of people who would be attending another show.

Opening night of the show went very well with lots of news coverage and lots of interest from the public. There was also some interest in purchasing,
but people were told to come back the following day to make their purchase. I do understand that sales would have been difficult in the hectic
atmosphere, but I know there is a lot of impulse buying at such events and it is an excellent time to sell. By the next day the desire to purchase is greatly diminished and they seldom return.

Added to this we were unable to stay at the exhibition throughout the show to manage our own sales. One powerful tool in selling is being able tell
about each individual piece and enjoy a personal exhange with the potential buyer. Especially with this being a Native American there for a cultural
exchange. There were a lot of missed opportunities to meet and talk to Kazakhs by not being there at the exhibition.

We were expected to offer a master class workshop, but it was never clear what was expected of us. In the end there was only a couple of tables and no equipment to work with other than the jewelers saw, the silver and the stamps that Dennison brought. We were also expected to show a film on Navajo Silversmiths, but we had nothing to present. Dennison told a little of the history of Navajo silversmithing and demonstrated cutting out a
bracelet. I feel it fell short of what could have been a much more interesting class if it were properly set up.

We also felt badly that we imposed on Gulmira for so long, I know having guests in ones home, disrupting ones life for such an extended time, is very difficult. On the other hand it served us very well, since it provided both an interpreter and a rich cultural contact. It made our time there very
comfortable having her with us all the time. She was always warm and gracious, making us feel like part of her family. It might be interesting to find
her honest opinion about hosting someone for so long.

On the positive side the cultural exchange went very well and we came home much richer for meeting and being with the Kazakhs. Dennison felt a cultural link with them, through many of their customs, their family ties, their symbols, their rug designs and traditional ancient jewelry designs. And of
course their traditional food, bread, their yerts and their nomadic past.

Curiously this evening we happened upon a fascinating program on PBS at 8:00 pm entitled, "The Journey of Man". A Geneticist by the name of Spencer Wells traced genetic markers in the blood of people in Central Asia, connecting them to the Kazakhs. He then interviewed a Kazakh family and took samples of their blood. Next he went to the Chukchi (the Nomads in Russia), where he interviewed and took samples of the blood of a family group. From there he went to the Eskimo, and finally ended up interviewing a Navajo family in Canyon DeChelly, and tracing that same marker to them. He proved beyond a doubt that the Native Americans started with as few as 10 Chukchi who crossed the Bearing Straits
less than 15,000 years ago and became the ancestors of all Native Americans!

I'm enclosing copies of the photographs I showed you, as well as a short article that appeared in our local paper, The Mogollon Gazette.

If I can provide you with any more information, let me know.

Warm regards,
Teddi