In Conversation With Krystle Amoo Founder of The Bibio Project.
Artisan Stories is a focus on those who create with their hands, forming an alchemical process of transforming raw materials into functional objects. It is a deeper lens into the spiritual aspects of the maker’s life and how their practice brings healing and transcendence to their way of being.
Join us in conversation with Krystle Amoo, founder of The Bibio Project a multi-concept store that works closely with artisans in Ghana & Bolivia to offer conscious objects.
Krystle Amoo Founder of The Bibio Project.
Who are you and where are you from?
My name is Krystle Efua Amoo. I am a London-born Ghanaian, and although I often feel foreign on both lands - this is the best way I define my belonging.
Can you tell us a bit about The Bibio Project?
Nuerki Ribbed Alpaca Dress by The Bibio Project.
The Bibio Project (TBP) is an extension of myself, it is a safe space in which I get to express myself unapologetically, a space where my conflict and creativity have found a way to exist harmoniously. I see TBP as a Roman à clef (a novel with a key) in which these objects are simply a facade for my real life.
“There is a piece of me in everything I create or source.”
To the consumers, it is just another store displaying objects without meaning, however to me, each piece captures an event or moment - there is a piece of me in everything I create or source. I was recently told by someone that they love my brand, but they are not entirely sure what it is. I sat with that comment, and I actually love the fact it cannot be defined by others (just like myself). It's my free, it evolves simultaneously with my present and mood.
“I want to create 'forever' objects that transcend normalizing this throw-away culture by making capitalist tools obsolete within my business model.”
"Bibio" meaning small in Ga was fitting as I wanted the freedom to work from project to project, without the pressure and constraint that often comes with channelling my creativity. With conscious knitwear as the core, I often tend to build small projects around my knitwear (objects for the home, kidswear, reincarnated pieces, etc) to capture whatever has impacted me at that particular time and place.
I also hope my brand is seen for its socialist values that challenge over-consumerism, as I don't want to facilitate a society that is so detached from its conscience. I want to create 'forever' objects that transcend normalizing this throw-away culture by making capitalist tools obsolete within my business model (e.g., seasonal drops or compromised quality for profit.)
Efua Structured Crochet Top by The Bibio Project
How were you drawn to this kind of work?
I was born into fashion; my Mother is a seamstress. Growing up, the sewing machine was a normal fixture on the dining table and the living room was frequently transformed into an atelier. I don't recall a birthday party that my siblings and I attended without being draped in a one-of-a-kind dress made by my Mother.
“I love the idea of a continuous singular yarn being looped together to create something functional.”
However, my love for knitwear found me by accident. I failed my AS levels miserably and I found myself enrolling on a course in Fashion (my plan b). On this two-year course, I met this wonderful teacher who had previously worked as a knitwear buyer at Liberty's London. For my end-of-year project, she convinced me to hand-knit some pieces, and ever since that moment I became obsessed with knitwear. I love the idea of a continuous singular yarn being looped together to create something functional. Being able to unravel and start again gives space for reincarnating what no longer serves you into something new.
On the road in Ghana, where The Bibio Project work with local artisans.
What does artisanship mean to you?
To me artisanship is more than just the artisan's hands, it's about being a visionary and being resourceful. It's the most authentic process of production and with the right materials, it is also the most sustainable. This form of creating is rooted in socialism; it is a slower alternative to mass production and the over-saturated market that encourages a system that makes everything a commodity.
I work with many artisans, from Bolivia to Ghana. I have become very protective of them, simply to preserve their resistance(not always by choice) of not churning out products in a very anti-human manner. I have learned to put more value on something society deems "imperfect" and unrefined, than something clinically uniformed and mass-produced. Working with an artisan is more of a collaboration, there is this artistic exchange in bringing my designs to life in comparison to producing with a factory. It's like working with an art collective and the end goal brings to fruition these beautiful objects by humans.
“Working with an artisan is more of a collaboration, there is this artistic exchange in bringing my designs to life in comparison to producing with a factory.
Why is it important for you to create?
To create is the closest thing to fullness, it's hard for me to articulate it. However, Audre Lorde expresses it well when she wrote "It is an internal sense of satisfaction to which, once we have experienced it, we know we can aspire. For having experienced the fullness of this depth of feeling and recognizing its power, in honour and self-respect we can require no less of ourselves." Therefore to not create is to deny my power. For me it is an organic expression of my very existence and to not create would leave a void and render me silent.
Nuerki Ribbed Alpaca Dress by The Bibio Project.
What are some of your self-care rituals for days you don’t feel in the flow?
My self-care rituals on days I feel motionless vary depending on the level of heaviness. As I have gotten older, I am less fearful of withdrawing and pressing pause - the fear of a missed opportunity no longer outweighs my mental health.
Sourced objects from The Bibio Project.
A daily ritual (mostly at night) is journaling, I love to write my heaviness away. I find solace in reflecting as it provides an outer body perspective on whatever is consuming me.
Self-care is to get lost in poetry; I often say poetry saved me - there was one point in my life where reading Salt by Nayyirah Waheed, and Bones by Yrsa Daley-ward become my routine. Before talk therapy was even a thing, I found myself in their poems and it allowed me to name so many nameless feelings within me.
For the rituals that involve me leaving my home, I enjoy visiting galleries especially exhibitions on photography. There is something sacred about a still capture of someone, or a group of people - it instantly takes me away from my thoughts and into someone else's body.
I think the greatest healer; the most precious ritual of all is to visit Ghana, it has become a yearly practice for the last four years, I feel out of sync if I don't go.
Anything you would like to share with our readers?
Last year I learned the art of not fearing change, there were many moments in which I lost control. Not by choice, I was forced to introduce a slower, more balanced way of working. I hope to practice this more moving forward, with one-off knitted pieces and reincarnated garments. The idea of creating using available materials will allow a more free-form design process, and allow me to worry less about censoring my art due to minimums.
To connect further with The Bibio Project follow them @thebibioproject.
Thank you for reading.
