Artisan Stories

It was a series of hardships that brought the women together Before the [cooperative] was organized, we were a loose group doing hand weaving, knitting, crocheting, wood carving and silver craft. Most of the women are from the indigenous tribes of the Cordillera. The...

Executive Director Joan Frisz recently traveled to India. Following are her pictures and account of a visit to bell-making artisans in the state of Gujurat. In the western state of Gujurat, there are 6 villages in the Jhula region where they do ironwork and make bells...

Nepalgung, Nepal Kesang Yudron first visited Nepalgunj as a high school student when her father wanted to reach out to the women of the area to train them in knitting. A typical teenager, Kesang didn’t think much of the experience at the time. After completing her...

A revered art form native to Rajasthan, India, block printing is a painstaking process mastery of labor-intensive steps that require especially in wood-block carving. Each color gets its own block and intricate designs can take several carvers days to create. Fabric...

Dissanayake and his family grow rice and spices on a 1.25-acre plot of land in Alutgama, Yatawatte, Sri Lanka. His biggest challenge is the adverse weather.