About Us

Africa Direct, Inc. is owned by Elizabeth Bennett and Sara Luther.

African art, trade beads and ethnic jewelry are both business and passion for Sara and me. We started buying African art twenty years ago as gifts for our children, four of whom are adopted and are African-American. We had been active in anti-apartheid politics for some time. In 1994, when Mandela was elected, we took the three still-at-home kids out of school and moved to southern Africa for eight months. We bought a used food panel van, converted it into a camper and traveled fifteen thousand miles through South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Swaziland. We weren't consciously beginning a business...but we noticed we were buying more than we could keep, give away, or sell at garage sales. In the beginning, we did shows and held open houses. Now eBay and our website, AfricaDirect.com, are the primary ways we sell.

We go on six-week buying trips to Africa every few years, and bring back containers. We also have African traders in our driveway almost daily. We buy from more than one hundred traders (including two women!) who come from both coasts, fly in from France and send shipments from Africa. We care about supporting living artists, and buy from co-ops in South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Swaziland and other places.

In addition to running the business and being active grandparents, Sara and I are politically active, support causes we care about, read voraciously and treasure family and friends. Eliza's background is in entrepreneurial business and international franchising. Sara was a professional squash player and continues to play competitive squash at national tournaments. We have been together for twenty-six years, and in 2004 were finally able to be legally married in Massachusetts.

Dr. Niangi Batulukisi, Adam Line, Jacob Liechty and Rory Gonzales work with us.

Niangi is our Curator of African Art, with more than fifteen years experience in the field as writer, lecturer, scholar and museum curator. She was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and received her Ph.D. in Archaeology and Art History at the Catholic University of Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium.

Adam, our primary photographer, is an accomplished artist with photo collages on display at local galleries. He loves listening to music, making music and discussing music. His other interests include anthropology and soccer.

Jacob is our Director of Operations and keeps things running here while we are traveling. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and lived there until coming to the U.S. in 1998. Having spent time in Swaziland, South Africa and Mali, he is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with African art every day.

Rory manages our inventory, a mammoth undertaking which involves keeping tabs on over 20,000 items. Rory loves outdoor activities and is a huge fan of Denver's sports teams-the Broncos most of all.

Shambe Abdul, our shipper,is the owner of Postal Centers, and if you are in Denver, he and his people are simply superb. You can call him at (303) 399-4156. He grew up in Uganda, of French/Kenyan parents, and is himself an African art collector.

In addition to our online retail business, we have published four books:

Yoruba: An Art of Life
A detailed catalog of our collection of Yoruba pieces which has been exhibited at the South Dakota Art Museum.

Zulu Beadwork: Talk with Beads
Written by a Zulu woman who is perhaps the greatest living expert on the subject, drawing largely on family tradition and oral histories.

Kuba Textiles and Design
By Elizabeth Bennett and Dr. Niangi Batulukisi of Africa Direct!

African Beads: Jewels of a Continent
Our magnum opus-a magnificent hardcover coffee table book on African-made beads, from telsum to Kiffa.

Thanks for your interest and support of our business. We send out two previews on a regular basis-one for African art, one for beads and jewelry-along with a monthly newsletter. Please let us know if you'd like to be on our mailing list. And be sure to visit our eBay store, Africa Direct.

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Eliza, Sara, Niangi, Adam, Jacob and Rory