A store selling art from Africa will open its doors on Friday on Church Street. The shop, which is run by Bermudian fashion model Amir, will be located at the former Cable & Wireless building opposite City Hall. Amir, who is a model currently based in Johannesburg in South Africa, has had a shop every Christmas for the past five years, but is now considering keeping the store open full-time. "Bermudians are very enthusiastic about African art,'' said Amir. "They feel the passion and heart that goes into these works. Some people buy them because they are aesthetically pleasing, others because they become attached to the spirit of an artifact.'' The shop, called Artifaction, sells items which range in price from $8 for a set of hand painted candles, right up to several thousand dollars for hand-crafted tribal items. Most items are from Southern Africa and include pieces from Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Chad, Kenya, South Africa, Malawi, Ghana, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Sudan. All of the art is hand-picked by Amir, who said he uses his commission for modelling assignments in Africa to buy the local artifacts as he travels over the continent. He said: "Compared to the US dollar, it is not a lot of money, but there it is worth a lot, so instead of converting it, I buy goods, which gives me a better return on my money.'' Spears, which range in price from $125 to $350 and candles from $8 are the most popular items and he expects to sell out of them before Christmas. Amir's enterprise started five years ago with a small stall at the Edinburgh Gallery, but business grew so fast that he soon moved to the Washington Mall, doubling the size of the operation the following Christmas. But now he has found that the demand for his spears, baskets, canes and hanging pictures is so much he is considering opening all year round. And he is considering returning Bermuda and making it his base for his modelling career which is taking off in Europe. "We bring things in that have a lot of meaning,'' he said. "They seem to speak to people here.'' Amir is helped in the store by his mother and manager Cynthia Webb. He said: "She supports me 150 percent. We love each other unconditionally, mother to son, child to