It is truly a gift to see the creative potential realized in materials like glass, wood, fabric and coconut husks - how art can easily be brought to life once our hands get to work.

And over time for some artists it becomes a second nature, hammering, stitching and sanding to perfection- the art of craft. And that's exactly what NICH sought to display here at the Museum of Belizean art this morning- recruiting a total of 24 artisans who produce carefully crafted pieces by hand.

This project served 3 different purposes.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture
"No, it's an absolutely fantastic project. You know, an exciting initiative by NICH . We pay a tribute to the artists, the artisans who are really behind this development project. As I pointed out, it's a project that really has three objectives. One, we want to document who the artisans are in Belize. So we want an accurate database of artists, artisans in Belize. We want to work with them on marketability, how can we, you know, all this creative creativity. How can we help them to promote that, to market that. And then of course as I pointed out, you know, at the end of the day, we really want to make sure that our creative people can make a living from their creativity. And so the export market, how can we work with them, to provide opportunities for their products, to gain access to export markets. So culture is my business is a key initiative that we have focused on here at niche, over the past few years. Because we understand that so many of our artists, they're creative people but they need support in terms of marketing their products, in terms of establishing their businesses, creating a business model, and ultimately making a profit so that they can provide for their families and support their communities."

"One of those artisans, from Santa Elena Cayo is Baron Neal, whose unique art form, incorporating butterfly wings to create pictures and collages, began when his brother was working at a butterfly sanctuary."

Baron Neal, Iry's Butterfly Art
"Well my artwork is a very new art in Belize. You know everybody knows embroidery and wood work, but my work was invented by my brother I would say 20 years ago, he used to work at a butterfly farm and the butterflies used to die naturally in the cage he used to throw them away as part of his job but because he knew he could something with them he invited this idea called butterfly art collages but 7 years working with him he quite the job and gave me all of his materials and then. Started making the art work myself and now I took it on as a business and I'm doing pretty well from now on."

"Since I've been making the art for years I've been recognised by businesses and the business approached me to do their logo and some of those businesses like Chaa Creek I made their logo, Tipsy Tuna, I made for Omega Reality and a Few others. Also I was recognised by my artwork so other resorts in Belize order big sizes of my art work and that's how I came about doing different things. I also make earrings out of the butterfly wings and that's about it. Earrings, tables, big art work, logos and frames."

Then you have other Artisans like Mercy Sabal, whose work is no stranger to the Museum of Belizean Art. Only this time instead of a quilt, she contributed this hand made doll to the collection.

Mercy Sabal, Artisan
"I have a passion for my dolls because they remind me of my ancestors, my teachers, you know people that made sure I made somebody and myself, so I came up with this girl that is in the exhibition and I am doing different things, I have a quilt here for Yasser, Gilvano got his Mermaid doll so Mercy is spinning in a world of dolls."

"It is nice looking at the work that we did years ago compared to what we are doing now. We are proud of ourselves."

"I love mixing with different artists and everybody showcasing their talent. If all of us were to do one thing it wouldn't be nice but we are proud to be remembered."

Aladdin Norris, Designer
"It's still good to see people coming together you understand me because in these times where we living it shows we have an open mind , and it's very nice we get to see these artists because we don't get to see them anywhere unless we come together at an exhibition like this."

It's a mobile exhibit, along with a web portal for the widest viewership. And as this video by curator Gilvano Swasey explains - the whole may be greater than the sum of its parts:

Voice of Gilvano Swasey, Curator
"The artists use their hands to tell these stories but the stories are not written in words, they are written in finer, clay, wood, metal, fabric, stone, paper, pigments. The stories are not produced as books, brochures or pamphlets. They are baskets, masks, clothing, vessels, glyphs, carvings, gourds, bags, jewellery, etc. and the stories are just not there for decorations or for storage they are there to be passed on to generations so that no one will forget who we are and why we are here and how creative we are, but most importantly that we are still human."