“I make everything from scratch,” says Ian Sealey, who has been selling his handmade kites for the past 25 years. “The frames make out of soft wood and I use other materials, like Barbados paper, plastic and stickers.”
Like other kite-makers, who have started vending their colourful creations for the Easter holiday, Sealey displays his hand-crafted work alongside the imported ‘bird’ kites. However, his preference is clear. “I think these wood kites is the best… they can sing. These bird kites can’t sing. I’m selling them but I don’t like them… I’m promoting local man-made kites,” he told Stabroek News from his spot on Camp Street. According to him, all his kites are capable of singing. “When a customer come and say ‘okay, I want this kite,’ I would put on the bow and frills for them.”
Although a kite can take him just about half an hour to make, Sealey says that with much care, they can be kept and used as long as desired. He sets his prices based on the time and effort he put into the work.
On average its costs him about $700 to make a kite, but he retails his smaller—18 inches—star kites at $1,300, while the average price of the commonly seen two-foot star kite, inclusive of the tail and twine, is $1,600.
He says he raised his prices by $100 since last year, because of the rise in prices of materials used in the craft. The imported bird kites are $1,000.
Beverly Gonsalves also sells kites along Camp Street. Her partner Morris Prince designs the kites. Gonsalves says she has been living with Prince for 19 years and he has always been making kites. “I’m not sure how long but is even before I meet he, he making kites,” she explains.
Like Sealey, she believes that locally made kites are better than imported ‘bird’ kites. “These bird kites are not strong.
Just as you put them up…. bap, they come down again,” she says. “With the locally made ones now, you add more polythene (twine) on the kite and you get a better flying,” she adds.
Her kites were being sold for $800, $1,000 and $2,000 while the imported kites retailed between $200, $300, $800 and $1000. The twine and tail, she said, are sold separately at a price of $200 (a baller) and $300, respectively.
Both she and Sealey say that next week the rush will be on to get kites ready for Easter Monday.
