Makila Nsika

MEET THE MAKER

My name is Makila Nsika and I work as a jeweller under the name of M.Kala in London. I have self-taught myself the basics of jewellery before studying fine jewellery at City Lit part-time alongside being a self-employed French teacher. I am launching this year my first collection. My African background but also my love for literature inform my practice: I think carefully about the bounds between the components I am working with, their social and political context. I have a particular interest in non-precious materials or objects that have carried a particular significance in pre-colonial times as well as in modern Africa. In combining them with precious metal, such as silver or gold, I hope to enhance their intrinsic value.

WHAT ARE YOUR FEEDBACKS?

My objectives for the first three years are to develop a sustainable home-based business with designs inspired by social engagement. Whilst my primary goal is to propose different but beautiful pieces made on order or in limited edition, the other important goals are to place my work in galleries, to find collaborative work and exhibitions opportunities as well as to launch at least one collection per year to maintain interest. I am hoping to become a reference in the UK for new African designs and be able to partner or collaborate with artisans in Africa. Thanks to the training I have received from the Craft Council through the CraftBusiness program I have become able to think better of my practice as a business. Thinking about budget and cost raised some anxiety however it opened a clear view in term of sale goals and returns. I have learnt about SEOs and how to improve them to improve the visibility of my website which benefited also from the writing sessions. Learning to speak and write about myself was crucial as it helped me with videos, online interviews and face to face meetings with potential clients during the SHINE 2021 “meet the maker” events at the Goldsmith Centre. I have learnt to envisioned better my goals and to define the steps toward them. This changed the direction of my aim. Before the training, the lack of confidence made me rush to make and find selling outlets whilst now, I know that I want to gain more authority and/or professional network rather than money. Therefore, I must invest as much in my career development than in the business. I believe I am going to apply to a MA in Design next year something I wasn’t considering before.

FIVE THINGS YOU’LL BRING WITH YOU FROM THE EXPERIENCE:

• Engage with every task even if you think you don’t need them
• Be genuine
• Think in terms of quantities to make for returns in order to understand what needs to be changed in your business model
• Develop your business plan from the first session