Had a great trip to Uganda. It was my first time to visit there and really liked it – very nice people and a lush and beautiful country. I managed to visit some artisans while there. Check out some of the vibrant colours of the products made by Rehoboth Arts & Crafts Producers in the photos below. I also visited Uganda Crafts 2000, a WFTO fair trade organisation.

Jaya

The ladies at the LPC office and showroom were in their usual fine form. A big welcome and much fuss over my drenched clothes and feet. They were disappointed that I had not taken them up on their offer to pick me up from the port, however, I was not exactly sure when I was going to arrive so I had decided not to trouble them. I also knew that they would be going out of their way for me a lot over the next 24 hours so I preferred to lessen my reliance on them a little. 

We chatted over a delicious home made coffee, a blend of Lombok beans and crushed dried soy. I’m not entirely sure if this is a common concoction around these parts or if it was an LPC speciality. Either way it was a great twist on the regular thick, strong coffee served on the island. We discussed how quickly the two years since I last visited had passed and how our respective businesses had fared during that period. I was pleased to hear that things had picked up a lot for LPC and their villages during 2011, although they could always be doing better. They had received a couple of big orders from one of the USA’s biggest fair trade retailers, a big order from Australia and a couple of solid customers in Italy and Japan. KartiMarket remains the sole importer of their product in the UK, something we are very proud of.

I spent the next couple of hours sifting through hundreds of products on the shelves of their warehouse, looking for things that would suit the KartiMarket style or, with some development, could be adapted into products that I thought would be popular. This part of a visit is always really interesting for both parties. I update them on foreign markets and design trends and how that can assist them in what they promote. Despite the internet becoming faster and more accessible in places like Lombok, it is still apparent that it is not always used beyond email communication and perhaps visiting the odd website. The idea of following a design or industry blog, or even a quick Google image search was not something they were familiar with, let alone are in the habit of doing.

After taking photos of some great products we had lunch prepared in the LPC kitchen. It was still bucketing down outside so after lunch I was dropped at the nearby beach town of Sengigi – not particularly nice as beach towns go but at least I knew there would be an abundance of decent accommodation. The last time I visited LPC, I stayed in what seemed to be the only remaining hotel room in Mataram due to a couple of conferences on that week – it was a mouse-infested dive that had walls stained with a range of suspicious colours. Sengigi in low season provided me with a range of options. 

The following morning the sun broke through for the first time since arriving in Indonesia. I was being picked up from Sengigi at 930am. A combination of shocking traffic between Mataram and Sengigi and the Indonesians’ famous ‘jam karet’ literally translated as ‘rubber time’, saw that it was closer to 1015am by the time the car arrived.

We were off to the village of Penujak, one of the three most famous areas for producing Lombok pottery. The road from Mataram to Penujak is also the new road to the new airport in Lombok. I was very surprised to hear that this road should be avoided at night due to a number of car jackings and robberies. It’s not a place you associate with those crimes and a reminder of the hardship that is not far below the surface for many on the island. My last trip here I visited the larger Masbagik village which produces KartiMarket’s most popular Lombok product, the Black Fruit Bowl. Penujak doesn’t produce the more popular black products that Masbagik does and has suffered because of it. The types of earthenware coming out of Penujak are lighter tones of black/brown as well as red. Penujak seems to create products with a more ornamental feel and LPC suggest this may be a reason why their products are not as popular as the more functional pottery coming out of Masbagik and Banyumulek.

The area of the village that is producing pottery for LPC is at the bottom of a steep hill that coincides with a sharp curve in the narrow road. From our vantage point we can see motorbikes and trucks scream around the corner and turn into the oncoming traffic ploughing down the hill. It is not rare to see accidents I am told, and deaths too have been witnessed from this otherwise sleepy corner. We drink coffee, eat rumbutan and watch as dogs wander across the road, ducking in front of the motorbikes and scooters. It is clearly an area that can do with the money they receive from their partnership with LPC. I was shown the new buildings that LPC have built to showcase the village creations and a more comfortable environment for them to work. I meet three local potters, Inak Lihah (woman making the bowl in top photo), Pak Haji Taslun (man making lizard) and Hajah Muminah (woman kneeding the clay). They’re happy to demonstrate their skills for me and ask us to order more of their products. I assure them that if I could, I would buy the lot!

It was a great opportunity for me to get to the source of some of our products and meet the faces behind them. Hopefully we can continue to help them develop homewares that not only utilise the skills that they have been handed down from past generations but also appeal to our customers at the same time. It was time for me to leave and get back to the port at Lembar. My LPC guides drove me back from Penujak just as the heavens opened once more and ensured I left Lombok in the same fashion as I arrived.

Stay tuned for my next post recapping my brief visit with another Indonesian fair trade collaborator, Mitra Bali.

Chris

Since Christmas is very nearly upon us, for those looking to purchase a little something for family or friends and receive it before Christmas, our last order date to ensure it reaches you before the 25th is Sunday the 18th of December.

Best wishes,

Chris & Jaya

Kartimarket is off to busy start in 2011 (can’t believe it’s April already!) We’ve got some exciting new projects in the pipeline, as well as new products. Our aim this year is to find new artisans to add to the great organisations we already work with, and increase our range of products to include more beautiful, handmade and authentic fair trade products. We’re also working with new designers in the four corners of the globe to develop some original stuff that you won’t find anywhere else. So stay tuned! In the meantime, see below for a 10% discount on us, applicable for the month of April for you and your family and friends to use.

Cheers,

Chris & Jaya

p.s. to subscribe to our mailing list and get the occasional newsletter with updates on our latest products and news, as well as discounts and offers, go here.

We’ve got some exciting new products and projects coming this year, so stay tuned.

To kick off the year we’re absorbing the UK Value Added Tax increase from 17.5% to 20%, so retail prices will stay the same. It also allows us to keep prices round and pretty.

Best wishes,

Jaya & Chris

Wed 14 Dec – Large items (postage £4.95)

Tue 20 Dec - Smaller items (postage £3.50 or below)

Merry Christmas from KartiMarket!

A real highlight for me was my accommodation for the weekend. I stayed at the “Axel,” part of the Guldsmeden Hotels collection. If Kartimarket were to do hotels, this is pretty much how we would do it! A blend of European contemporary design with Balinese influences, organic and fair trade products, attention to detail… sound familiar?

Housed in a lovely old building in the edgy Vestebro area near Central Station means guests are perfectly situated to take advantage of both the old and new Copenhagen – the picture postcard waterways and cobbled streets as well as the up-and-coming fashion boutiques, cafes and bustling restaurants and bars of the Vestebro.

However, it’s what this hotel has to offer that is most impressive. I’ll start with breakfast. A veritable smorgasbord of Danish delights. Locally made muesli, natural yogurt, vanilla yogurt (the house specialty), cereals, multiple types of cheeses, cured meats, bacon, sausages, four types of fresh fruit juice, fresh fruits, tea and coffee… All of it organic and jam packed full of taste and goodness. It was the perfect start to a day of exploring and, if taken full advantage of, you’re unlikely to need to eat again till dinner. Although breakfast is an added extra and not exactly cheap, in this very expensive city, it is fantastic value.

As mentioned earlier, the design and aesthetics are of Balinese influence. Our bedroom wasn’t huge, but had a massive bathroom comprising of an egg-shaped bath, large shower, stone basin and organic cotton towels. There are earthy tones throughout the room and hotel with great detail given to the extras such as custom designed crockery, baring the hotel’s dragonfly motif. Guldsmeden Hotels actually have a hotel/villa near Ubud in Bali so they seem to have a good degree of knowledge in Balinese design and the resulting ambiance. The common areas of the hotel definitely have a very peaceful and relaxing feel to them.

Hotel Guldsmeden strives for sustainability and protecting the environment. Even their coffee grounds are “recycled in the spa, mixed with essential oils and Epsom-salt as a body-scrub.” The hotel provides an efficient recycling program so don’t just throw away the tourist maps or batteries. Their interiors use long-life materials and all timber is from plantations. It’s part of the Green Globe community as well as the Danish Eco-Council.

It’s inspired us to think about what a Kartimarket hotel would be like and what we would offer. If only…

Chris

For more of her work check out this great interview with Skye in the excellent Design Files.

The tea towels are available now and the cushions will be on sale shortly!