Tight-knit group to launch space

A ONCE-vacant shopfront at Bridge Mall is now adorned with the vibrant colours and patterns of Africa.

Since early this week, the space has been spruced up with crocheted fabrics and sewn aprons, and once opened will serve as the home base for the Multicultural Women’s Group’s five key members.

The group acquired the space through Ballarat Evolve, which pairs creatives with empty venues, and one of the Multicultural Women’s members Nyibol Deng said the shop will allow them to expand their work.

“We’d been doing our businesses for a while and we really wanted to get a shop together,” she said.

“Before this we’d do markets and pop-ups. Our aim is to encourage women with multicultural backgrounds but really anyone wanting to do their own small businesses.

“Our foundation is to empower women in the community.”

The Multicultural Women’s Group formed in 2019 between textile business owners Mary Top and Mary Deng of Mat Tetni, crocheter Nancy Thomas, Martha Crotchet Creative’s Martha Chot, and Nyibol, who owns A Tuk.

Their operation was launched initially through the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council’s Stepping Stones to Small Business program.

“We started off as one business,” Nyibol said. “Then we divided them into two with Mat Tetni and A Tuk then Martha and Nancy joined.

“We do all sorts of products. I make cushions and bags, denim jeans same as the girls [Mary Top and Deng] making their aprons from recycled denim jeans.

“Our signature is the Ankara fabric which is our traditional colour and material, to introduce the colour to the wider community.”

Ms Top said the group will continue to use their upper-level space at Barkly Square for storage after unsuccessfully trying to use it as a retail space.

The shopfront will be called Women of the Well, which Ms Top said is in reference to their journey from South Sudan to Australia.

“It’s about the journey we walk,” she said. “We came from a refugee background, and the well was always something to come to.

“It never dried out, and we were always able to keep moving forward for our families and ourselves.”

She said the group aims to use their new space beyond just retail and consignment.

“We’ll come up with workshops with different programs happening like African bead making or hairdressing,” she said.

“We’ll have our table out here for even people who just want to come in for a talk. We want to make everyone feel welcome and use the space for a lot of different reasons.

“When you startup a business, it’s not all about you. It’s about the community and about introducing our culture.

“Anyone who wants to learn about our culture, we’re happy to share.”

Ms Top said she expects the store’s launch to be around the end of June.