Wanna play designer?
News & Events
Valerie Olla

Wanna play designer?

A couple of months ago, we mentioned that we were working on an exciting project involving… you! Wanna play designer? It is your time to shine! You can now design your very own bath mat! It’s basically a smaller version of our popular tapestry rug. Follow along for more details on this exciting take on the DIY concept!

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OPT-EIF a fruitful collaboration
Village Weaver Project
Valerie Olla

OPT and EIF, a fruitful collaboration

The Village Weavers Project is a series of initiatives that create economic opportunities for artisans in rural locations around Laos. We decide which villages to work with in a few different ways. Sometimes, it comes through Public Private Partnerships. This is how our collaboration with the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) started three years ago. Read this interview with Ock Pop Tok’s (OPT) Co-Founder and Executive Director, Veomanee Douangdala, to learn more.

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The price has a story
Village Weaver Project
Valerie Olla

The price has a story…

Did you ever wonder what goes into the price of an artisan made product? In the price of the products we make, in collaboration with artisans around Laos, we account for the cost of raw materials and fair wages for the artisans, but that’s not all… Can you guess what else comes into play?

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Made in Laos!
Village Weaver Project
Valerie Olla

Made in Laos!

Did you ever stroll through a market during your travels and wonder if the product you were about to buy was really handmade in the country you were visiting? Rest assured that when buying from Ock Pop Tok, you buy a product (hand)made in Laos from start to finish. Let’s have a look at the production process of artisan products Made in Laos.

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The faces behind your handicraft
Village Weaver Project
Valerie Olla

The faces behind your handicrafts…

Did you ever wonder who made the products you buy? Rest assured that when buying from Ock Pop Tok, you buy an artisan made product. And your purchase not only helps these artisans make a living from traditional crafts but also supports the preservation of local culture. Let’s have a look at the faces behind your handicrafts…

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afghan jewellery
Radio Ock Pop Tok
Radio Ock Pop Tok

Ramzia Khorami and Maryam Omar: Afghan Jewellery & Design

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.

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block printing
Radio Ock Pop Tok
Radio Ock Pop Tok

Mahila Print: Re-imagining Rajasthani block printing

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.

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Pippa Small Explore Fairmined & Ethical Jewelry
Radio Ock Pop Tok
Radio Ock Pop Tok

Pippa Small
Explore Fairmined & Ethical Jewelry

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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Designing & Upcycling with HLA DAY in Myanmar
Radio Ock Pop Tok
Radio Ock Pop Tok

Designing & Upcycling with
HLA DAY in Myanmar

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.

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OPT Partners
Hilary Kilpatric

Lao Teen Girls Project

Women’s empowerment is a core value of our organization, so this year we chose to partner with Lao Solidarity and their Lao Teen Girls Project.

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OPT Partners
Hilary Kilpatric

Capacity Building Workshops in Myanmar

In February, Ock Pop Tok was invited by the Asian Development Bank to help with a poverty reduction project focused on building the artisan industry in Mon State in Myanmar.

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