Part 2: Afghanistan Chapter 2: The Designs, The Hands, The Land

It’s very important to me that the designs we create in Afghanistan reflect the culture, history, and heritage of the country where they are made. The people we work with are from Afghanistan, and we want the pieces to reflect the aesthetic language that they use, and to celebrate their incredible design heritage and skills.

We draw inspiration from different techniques; we look at textiles, embroidery, and ceramics. I also find that the landscape and the natural world really inspire the way that the designs come out – the rough and powerful landscapes of Afghanistan are transcribed through the jewellery.

The artisans we partner with in Afghanistan are workshops of people, some of whom we have worked with for nearly twenty years. These are young men who started as apprentices in a workshop run by Fawad, who had been a refugee in Pakistan and came back to Afghanistan to start his business; we’re still working with a lot of those boys, who are now men and fathers. We also work with women artisans who practice goldsmithing and gem-cutting – their work is so beautiful.