!Khwa ttu proved once again to be an inspirational place for artists. This time its vistas, flair and serenity stimulated both world-renowned jewellery designer Mickaël Kra and 18 San crafters from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. They met for 12 days at the !Khwa ttu training centre to develop a new collection for the brand 'Pearls of the Kalahari'. Their deep appreciation of each other's artistry and skills resulted in 27 exquisite new jewellery pieces made out of ostrich eggshell beads, leather, porcupine quills, glass beads and semi-precious stones.

!Khwa ttu had provided ideal prerequisites for the workshop by arranging two-hundred metres of smooth ostrich eggshell beads, soft leather pieces in different brown and grey shades, an assortment of high-quality semi precious gemstones, colourful glass beads and by offering a spacious training centre, homely accommodation, food and trips to the Atlantic Ocean and Darling on weekends. The crafters were impressed by the meaningful tasks their fellow San fulfilled at !Khwa ttu and Mickaël Kra called !Khwa ttu "a piece of jewellery."

All preparations done, the workshop began on 19 November 2007. Being the sensitive designer he is, Mickaël Kra did not arrive with ready-made ideas but created designs based on the available raw material, the input of the crafters, their traditions and specific skills as well as on his own inspiration and experience. "They [the crafters] went from a commercial, very simple, minimalistic piece to something very high fashion, something more exclusive. I taught them to really let themselves go, and create, and even exaggerate, because that is how we do it in the fashion world to produce an eye-catcher", Mickaël describes the creative process. During the first few days he had already sensed that the South African crafters - amongst them the only San man - excelled in working with leather, that the San women from Botswana stood out in beading ostrich eggshell pearls and that the Namibian women did extremely well with glass beads. Although they worked most of the time "on what they specialise in", now and then Mickaël would encourage them to teach each other skills they were not too familiar with although he was careful not to "push them into something they don't like to do; it stops their creativity."

Mickaël did not only focus on developing new designs but also incorporated into the workshop elements of colour theory, quality control, technical components and finishing essentials such as the symmetry of some pieces. He points out, "These are prototypes for them, a new collection", which he believes will motivate the crafters to produce further designs and underline the uniqueness of each of the jewellery pieces. In this context he was quick to emphasise "I would not even call them craftsmen; they have an artistic fibre; they just need an artistic direction." And after a short pause he adds, "I did not try to turn them into something they are not. I try to bring out the best in them; to make them feel good and show them the strong points that they have, that is important."

He obviously succeeded as the San crafters, who had all learned their skills from relatives at an early age, enthusiastically listed the numerous new weaving and finishing techniques they had learned during the workshop. They particularly treasured both the combination of ostrich eggshell beads with semi-precious gemstones and the leather work. Bontle Lesetume from Botswana spoke for all of them when she summarised, "Our expectations have been fulfilled, we are happy because we have learnt a lot." While they were still giving the new collection pieces - on some of them they had worked in pairs for two days - the finishing touch they were already contemplating on ways how to train their fellow crafters in their communities.

The workshop participants were extremely grateful to the !Khwa ttu management, who provided each of them with a package of raw materials so that they could immediately begin with the production of the new collection of the 'Pearls of the Kalahari' upon their arrival in their remote villages in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.