Banjo lessons. Yoga classes. Welding. Carpentry. Honey. Handmade stuffed animals. Jewelry. Hair wraps. Apple-cranberry pie. GRE tutoring. Portraits. Thai massage. Wine classes. Fig cultivars. Spanish lessons. Haircuts. Soap. Debt prevention advice.
All of these things would make fantastic presents. Especially the debt prevention advice—the average American family piles up $1,300 (!) in credit-card debt during the holidays. The really lovely thing about all of those items, though? They cost zero dollars.
Let us explain. Once every few months, two local barter groups join forces for Barter Fest, a “marketplace” where their members and the general public can come together to swap goods and services. The Cowry Collective is a bartering network organized to strengthen community between people of African descent; it communicates needs and offers through a Yahoo! Group modeled on Freecycle. “We chose our unit, the cowry, to give reverence to all the trading that went on using cowries as a form of exchange in Africa,” says founder Chinyere Oteh. The group underWAREs (which also organizes dinner parties) maintains a barter directory shared both online and in print. Earlier this year, Maude Bauschard of Maude’s Market (a South City grocery that specializes in local food) introduced Oteh to underWAREs organizers Stephanie Co and Will Fischer.
“It’s just a way of being independent from paying for things with actual money, but also getting to meet people and building community between people in the barter circle,” Co says of Barter Fest, which is held again this month to dovetail with the winter holidays.
The first Barter Fest was held in July at Gya Community Gallery & Fine Craft Shop on Locust Street, and it was packed. “We were cramped for space!” Oteh says with delight. “We had everything from people doing bike repairs, where you could bring your bike and get your wheels looked at, to haircuts to face painting.”
Co says that one guy “came with an assortment of things that he was carrying around and would just try to barter with people. He had like a head of lettuce, some zines, and a book.” She says initially, Barter Fest was going to be an annual event. “But so many people came up to us and asked, ‘Well, when’s the next one? When are you going to do this again?’ So we decided to do it four times a year, and it just happened that every time we decided to do it, it was near an equinox. So that was kind of cool, too.”
In September, the groups held their second event at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group offices, adding mini classes in African dance, screen-printing, building cold frames for gardens from a suitcase and a window, and weaving with strips of cloth from old T-shirts.
“Using that skill, you could probably make a rug, but we ended up with some misshapen potholders,” Oteh chuckles. “But it was cool just to see that these random items, which you’re going to throw out or give to the thrift store, could be creatively reused to make other things.”
The Winter Barter Fest will be held at The Juice Box corner store on Arsenal Street (proprietor Shawn McKee is in The Cowry Collective’s network, and he often fields new members for Oteh). People are welcome to stroll in off the street and check things out: There will be live music, food, and more classes and demonstrations, along with a Barter 101 info session discussing what bartering is and how to start your own network. If you feel moved to participate, you can join either collective, or maybe get a haircut on-site, after talking to the stylist about what she might like in return. Though the economy is still suffering, and bartering is a great way to hang onto your cash, both Oteh and Co say that ultimately, bartering isn’t just about economics; it builds community.
“You feel valued, because someone is appreciating what you’re doing. And you can do that for someone else,” Oteh says. “It’s about honoring each individual and what they have to offer—that’s just implicit in the exchanges. We’re in such a competitive society. How often, unless it’s your mom or grandma, do you get accolades just for things you do well? As an adult, that praise diminishes. It just helps to know that other people appreciate what you’re doing.”
Winter Barter Fest is a family event; children are welcome. It takes place Sunday, December 11, from 2 to 5 p.m. at The Juice Box, 3101 Arsenal, 314-667-5248, juiceproject.org. For more information, or to sign up to participate, email stepco@gmail.com or call 708-323-6867. For more information on The Cowry Collective, visit groups.yahoo.com/group/thecowrycollective; for more information on underWAREs, go to sites.google.com/site/underwarestl/barter-circle.
