Eric Miller and his wife, Saffron Tonton, travel to places such as Bali, Thailand, and other parts of Asia, to bring back exotic goods for the Many Moons Exotic Market.
“There will be jewelry and textiles, unusual gift items and what we call sacred objects, which are like the spiritual judicials of the different countries we travel in,” Miller said.
Those items will be featured in the Many Moons Exotic Market, which is coming to ARTS/West, 132 W. State St., on Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. and Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. The event is free, but items will be available for purchase.
Miller said he has been a world traveller his entire life and likes being involved in different cultures.
“We are world travelers and we collect handicraft from the different countries where we go,” Miller said. “We have a lot of people who are interested in what we do in the Athens area so we decided to have a sale around the Christmas season.”
Miller said the market will be affordable for college students because they buy directly from the maker.
“We don’t have a huge markup on our prices,” Miller said. “Students will find it is very budget friendly.”
Emily Beveridge, the program specialist at ARTS/West, said the items sold are appealing to the people who live in Athens, especially because Athens residents may have a limited opportunity to shop.
“One of the benefits of having it at ARTS/West is they essentially can take over a space in the basement,” Beveridge said. “It looks like a caravan essentially, where they’ve made it into their store. I think it’s a really fun shopping experience.”
Kendall Hager, a junior studying early childhood education, said she would be interested in going to the market to get a perspective of other cultures.
“I think it’s a cool idea, and I think it is cool to bring the culture to a community of college kids,” Hager said. “I’ve never been out of the country, which I think makes it cool, because it brings it here (to Athens), so people who don’t have the experience can have it.”
