Sojourns
Sojourns is a store and gallery located at 217 20th Street North and owned by Melissa Kendrick. The business features crafts, decorative objects, baskets, food, musical instruments, toys, jewelry and textiles created by fairly-compensated artisans in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Peru, Guatemala and other countries. The store's slogan "Adventure-Art-Peace" is derived from the "five qualities of civilization" described by English mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead.
The store sells objects imported under the certification of the Fair Trade Federation, which ensures a living wage paid to the artisans, and also supports projects that improve education and environmental protection. Sojourns is the first 100% Fair Trade store in Alabama. In addition to regular hours, it hosts special events in concert with the Birmingham International Festival and the Foundation for Sustainable Travel.
It was first opened in October 2005 in a 600 square foot space in the Atrium Building at 1910 3rd Avenue North. It moved to its new, larger, location on November 6, 2007.
References
- Sepsas, Niki (2005) "The Sojourn Story: Adventure-Art-Peace" [1] - accessed April 15, 2006
External link
- Sojourns website