Set in lush tropical gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center by Ock Pop Tok is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles and handicrafts. Created as a way to allow visitors to observe the impressive skills that go into Lao textiles, the Centre brings the concept of “East Meets West” alive. Follow Maysa for a tour - in Chinese - of the Living Crafts Centre by Ock Pop Tok. We have to warn you though, you'll definitely want to jump into a plane for Luang Prabang afterwards...

Set in lush tropical gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center by Ock Pop Tok is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles and handicrafts. Created as a way to allow visitors to observe the impressive skills that go into Lao textiles, the Centre brings the concept of “East Meets West” alive. Follow Valérie for a tour - in French - of the Living Crafts Centre by Ock Pop Tok. We have to warn you though, you'll definitely want to jump into a plane for Luang Prabang afterwards...

Set in lush tropical gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center by Ock Pop Tok is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles and handicrafts. Created as a way to allow visitors to observe the impressive skills that go into Lao textiles, the Centre brings the concept of “East Meets West” alive. Follow Nora for a personal tour - in German - of the Living Crafts Centre by Ock Pop Tok. We have to warn you though, you'll definitely want to jump onto a plane for Luang Prabang afterwards...

Set in lush tropical gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center by Ock Pop Tok is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles and handicrafts. Created as a way to allow visitors to observe the impressive skills that go into Lao textiles, the Centre brings the concept of “East Meets West” alive. Follow our co-founder Veomanee Douangdala for a personal tour - in Lao - of the Living Crafts Centre by Ock Pop Tok. We have to warn you though, you'll definitely want to jump into a plane for Luang Prabang afterwards...

Set in lush tropical gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center by Ock Pop Tok is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles and handicrafts. Created as a way to allow visitors to observe the impressive skills that go into Lao textiles, the Centre brings the concept of “East Meets West” alive. Follow our co-founder Joanna Smith for a personal tour - in english - of the Living Crafts Centre by Ock Pop Tok. We have to warn you though, you'll definitely want to jump into a plane for Luang Prabang afterwards...

Designer, artist and eco-entrepreneur Thao Vu is a leader among a pioneering group of young designers who have made Hanoi an emerging creative hub. Her label Kilomet 109 is an eco-fashion brand that puts natural fibres, natural dyes and traditional skills at the heart of its production process. Combining heritage and contemporary design, Thao is able to conjure shades of indigo and magenta that are at once nostalgic and fresh. Thao describes what it means to be an ‘eco-entrepreneur’ and how her collaborations with Nung An, Tai and Khmer communities inspire and fuel her vision to make clothes from seed to fiber. Read more on our blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/kilomet-109-eco-fashion-hanoi Learn more about Kilomet 109: www.kilomet109.com

Designer Kavita Parmar wants you to know that “heritage is the new luxury.” She hones in on this point while discussing XTANT, an artisan market she’s co-hosting in Mallorca in June, 2021. Part folk art market, part art installation and a full-on celebration of heritage craft, the event is a refreshing way for artisans to sell and to build momentum and community. XTANT comes on the heels of TEXTO, the wildly successful first edition, hosted in Mexico City in 2020. Find out what’s in store for XTANT, how to attend in person or virtually, and why Mallorca is the place to be this June! Read more on our Blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/xtant-mallorca Follow XTANT on instagram: www.instagram.com/_xtant_/

All aboard? Let’s go to Kabul and meet Ramzia Khorami and Maryam Omar, two vanguards bringing Afghan jewellery and Silk Road-era crafts to the contemporary global marketplace. This is a rare opportunity to hear about the experiences of two women within the country’s burgeoning artisan and design sector. Ramzia and Maryam share the inside story about leaving and returning to Kabul, about what it’s like to be a woman working in Kabul and about their work with Turquoise Mountain (listen to our previous episode on this fabulous heritage and craft organisation!). Read more on our blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/afghan-jewellery-design Learn more about Turquoise Mountain: www.turquoisemountain.org Ramzia Jewelry Studio on Instagram: @r_a_jewelery

Shoshana Stewart went from studying astrophysics to rebuilding the streets of Kabul. Literally. These days, Shoshana heads Turquoise Mountain, an innovative organisation that focuses on reviving historic buildings and developing craft entrepreneurs. In this episode, she tells us the ins and outs of running projects in some of the world’s most challenging places. What did she encounter when she first landed in Kabul? How did Turquoise Mountain mobilise master craftsmen to teach their skill to women? Why are energy, beauty and pride integral to success? Our conversation takes us to Turquoise Mountain’s artisan workshops in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan and we’ll hear how a creative leader and a pioneering organisation found success by following ‘roads less travelled’. Read more on our blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/craft-business-kabul Learn more about Turquoise Mountain: www.turquoisemountain.org

This story is one of our favourites! We are in Ritoma, a small village in breathtaking grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau, where we meet Kim and Dechen Yeshi. The mother-daughter duo began an ambitious project that brings together a rare fiber called yak khullu, an uncompromising aesthetic and a commitment to uphold the ancestral nomadic traditions of the Tibetan Plateau. You’ll hear how Kim and Dechen started Norlha, a social enterprise and weaving atelier where local nomads weave beautiful textiles using yak khullu, or yak wool that is on par with cashmere. Norlha’s gorgeous textiles are sought after by everyone from haute couture fashion houses like Hermès and Balmain and local nomads. This is an inspiring and fun story of adventure and incredible faith and determination, a calling to always do the right thing. And, they even have a basketball team! Read more on our blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/norlha-tibetan-plateau Learn more about Norlha: www.norlha.com Visit Amdo, Tibet with Norden Travel: www.nordentravel.com

How do you introduce ‘start-up’, entrepreneurial thinking to a 400-year old artisan community? In Bagru, the hub of Rajasthani block-printing, Jeremy Fritzhand tells us that a start-up mindset is critical to growing the industry and “putting creative power back in the hands of the artisans.” A long-time resident of Bagru, a tiny village southwest of Jaipur, Jeremy is co-founder of Studio Bagru, a custom block printing house that streamlines and brings equity to artisan collaborations. Now, Jeremy and his artisan cohorts are tackling issues around cultural appropriation. In this episode, he tells us how he joined a group of forward-thinking women to start Mahila Print, a landmark approach for protecting and licensing indigenous designs. Read more on our blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/rajasthani-block-printing Learn more about Mahila Print and Studio Bagru: www.mahilaprint.com, www.studiobagru.com/

The road to Machu Picchu takes you through Chinchero, a village in the Peruvian Andes where you’ll find Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez, a dynamic Quechua weaver. Founder of the Centre for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, Nilda helped revive Quechua textiles traditions and restore indigenous pride. In spite of being a catalyst to move her community forward, she believes the key to a sustainable future lies in respecting and in employing ancestral know-how. This type of counterintuitive thinking is precisely what makes Nilda a creative and powerful innovator within her community. Join us for an intriguing conversation about Quechua textiles and culture, as Nilda recalls her childhood spent herding sheep and shares her thoughts on what lies ahead for the indiegnous peoples in the Peruvian Andes. Read more on our Blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/quechua-textiles-peru About Nilda & CTTC: www.textilescusco.org

How did a man born in Vieng Xai cave during a revolutionary war end up unlocking the country’s impressive potential for adventure travel? This is a man who sailed from Australia to China with no prior experience. He ran the length of Laos for charity. That’s 1500 km of rugged country. He’s Lao's only Ironman competitor. His eyes are set on Everest. We’ll hear about how Inthy prepares for a challenge, in adventure, in life and in building one of Laos’ most progressive sustainable businesses. He came up with an idea to float a net bridge from one karst outcrop to another, 2000 metres above a steep gorge! In a country with limited resources and engineers, convincing people it can be done and then actually doing it is nothing short of epic! Let’s head into the Lao wilderness and delve into the mind of Inthy, a pioneering and fearless adventure traveller. Read more on our Blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/inthy-ecotourism-pioneer About Inthy and eco-tourism in Laos: https://greendiscoverylaos.com

Cultural intellectual property rights are a complex issue. Cultural intellectual property and fashion attorney and founder of the Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative (CIPRI), Monica Moisin joins the broadcast to explain the colonial roots of fashion and the importance of protecting the traditional knowledge, designs and traditional manufacturing methods. Read more on our blog: https://www.ockpoptok.com/blog/cultural-intellectual-property-rights Learn more about CIPRI: www.culturalintellectualproperty.com

Luang Prabang is full of stories. Textiles, temples, ceremonies, rituals and conversations convey stories of Lao culture. As Lao culture evolves, film is emerging as a contemporary medium for storytelling, and the Luang Prabang Film Festival is at the forefront of nurturing modern storytellers and cinema in Laos and across Southeast Asia. Read more on our Blog: https://www.ockpoptok.com/blog/stories-film-festival Connect with Luang Prabang Film Festival: www.lpfilmfest.org

Jo Smith, Ock Pop Tok co-founder, regales us with the story of a spontaneous journey to Houaphan Province in northeastern Laos. This journey jumpstarted the Village Weavers Project, a dynamic model for village-based collaborations. Since the trip, the Village Weavers Project has evolved and grown, helping Lao women weavers and artisans access markets and preserve their cultural traditions. Read more on our blog: https://www.ockpoptok.com/blog/houaphan-journey-village-weavers-project/ Learn more about the Village Weavers Project: https://www.ockpoptok.com/impact/village-weavers-project/

What is “ethical jewelry”? What is fairly mined, or fairmined, gold? In this episode, renowned jewelry designer Pippa Small takes us inside artisan studios in Kabul, Yangon and Amman, shares her insights on the meaning of ethical jewelry and discusses the importance and value of collaborating with artisans in their home communities. No doubt, the modern jewelry industry is rife with exploitation, environmental degradation and displacement. However, Pippa Small is dedicated to building a conscientious and ethical marketplace. By collaborating directly with artisans in their communities, Pippa’s approach supports jobs, economic security and cultural continuity. Read more on our blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/fairmined-ethical-jewelry Learn more about Pippa Small: www.pippasmall.com

Susan Hull Walker and IBU Movement are at the forefront of galvanising the global artisan community. Susan’s work empowers and connects people—in particular women—at all levels, from a village-based artisan to a woman in corporate or suburban America. She describes IBU Movement as a world wide web of self-authorised women on the move to self-empowerment and self-sufficiency. Through her work with IBU Movement, and more recently IBU Foundation, Susan is finding common ground for women from far away places and disparate experiences to come together meaningfully. Read more on our Blog: https://www.ockpoptok.com/blog/ibu-empower-women-artisans/ Connect with IBU Foundation: www.weareibu.org Bid on one-of-a-kind ethnographic masks: www.event.gives/ibufoundation Attend IBU Foundation’s online event 13/14 November, 2020: www.weareibu.org/events

Why is Myanmar difficult terrain for artisans? Plastic upcycling genius Peter Pau Son, founder of Shin Thant Plastics, and Ulla Kroeber, co-founder and lead designer at Hla Day, a crafts and design organisation in Yangon, helps us understand the challenges of doing business in Myanmar. Read more on our blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/myanmar-upcycling-plastic Find out about Hla Day: www.hladaymyanmar.org

Palestinian embroidery is a traditional craft dating back centuries. Traditionally used on garments and pillows for the home, this embroidery is rich with motifs and stories of Palestinian culture, nature and village life. Kissweh, a craft enterprise focusing on these embroidery techniques, provides income opportunities for women living in Palestinian refugee camps inside Lebanon. Read more on our blog: https://www.ockpoptok.com/blog/palestinian-embroidery-refugee/ Learn more about Kissweh: www.kissweh.com Learn about Beit Atfal Assumoud: http://www.socialcare.org/