Founder of eco-fashion house Kilomet 109, Thao Vu is a pioneering designer who has helped transform Hanoi into a creative hub. 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 “seed to fiber” collections.
Artisan advocate and fashion designer Kavita Parmar wants you to know that “heritage is the new luxury.” In collaboration with Marcella Echavarria, she’s curating a folk art market called XTANT in Mallorca. Presented as part market, part hands-on workshops, part art installation and celebration, Kavitat tells us how XTANT will bridge heritage and luxury.
Meet Ramzia Khorami and Maryam Omar, two vanguards bringing Afghan jewellery and Silk Road-era crafts to the contemporary global marketplace. Ramzia handcrafts Afghan jewellery using traditional techniques. Maryam manages Turquoise Mountain’s Design Center (listen to the previous episode featuring the organization). This is a rare opportunity to hear about the country’s burgeoning crafts and design sector directly from Afghan women.
According to Shoshana Stewart, CEO of Turquoise Mountain, the cornerstones of sustainable craft business are energy, beauty and pride—terms not often emphasised in development work. In this episode we go to Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, taking ‘roads less travelled’ to see how Turquoise Mountain harnesses master artisan skills and launches a new generation of craft business.
In Ritoma, a small village in the breathtaking grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau, 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 textiles using yak khullu, or yak wool that is on par with cashmere.
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.” In this episode of Radio Ock Pop Tok, Jeremy discusses he and a group of forward-thinking women, along with the help of the Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative (CIPRI) joined forces to start Mahila Print, a new way of protecting and licensing indigenous designs.
Meet Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez, founder of the Centre for Traditional Textiles of Cusco and champion of Quechua textiles. In this episode of Radio Ock Pop Tok, she recalls her childhood spent herding sheep and shares thoughts on what lies ahead for Quechua textiles and the indiegnous peoples of the Peruvian Andes. A creative innovator, Nilda believes the path to a sustainable future lies begins with a journey to the past.
Meet ecotourism pioneer and sustainable entrepreneur Inthy Deuansavanh. How did a man born in Vieng Xay cave while Laos’ revolutionary forces were fighting for independence end up unlocking Laos’ impressive potential for sustainable adventure travel? In a country with limited resources, Inthy’s creative adventure travel experiences are nothing short of epic. Let’s head into the Lao wilderness and delve into the mind of a pioneering and fearless adventure traveller.
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.
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.
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.
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. Pippa Small is dedicated to building a conscientious and ethical marketplace.
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