Radio Ock Pop Tok

Set in lush tropical gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center by Ock Pop Tok is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles and handicrafts. Created as a way to allow visitors to observe the impressive skills that go into Lao textiles, the Centre brings the concept of “East Meets West” alive. Follow Maysa for a tour - in Chinese - of...

Set in lush tropical gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center by Ock Pop Tok is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles and handicrafts. Created as a way to allow visitors to observe the impressive skills that go into Lao textiles, the Centre brings the concept of “East Meets West” alive. Follow Valérie for a tour - in French - of...

Set in lush tropical gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center by Ock Pop Tok is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles and handicrafts. Created as a way to allow visitors to observe the impressive skills that go into Lao textiles, the Centre brings the concept of “East Meets West” alive. Follow Nora for a personal tour - in Germa...

Set in lush tropical gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center by Ock Pop Tok is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles and handicrafts. Created as a way to allow visitors to observe the impressive skills that go into Lao textiles, the Centre brings the concept of “East Meets West” alive. Follow our co-founder Veomanee Douangdala...

Set in lush tropical gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center by Ock Pop Tok is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles and handicrafts. Created as a way to allow visitors to observe the impressive skills that go into Lao textiles, the Centre brings the concept of “East Meets West” alive. Follow our co-founder Joanna Smith for a p...

Designer, artist and eco-entrepreneur Thao Vu is a leader among a pioneering group of young designers who have made Hanoi an emerging creative hub. Her label Kilomet 109 is an eco-fashion brand that puts natural fibres, natural dyes and traditional skills at the heart of its production process. Combining heritage and contemporary design, Thao is able to conjure shades of indigo and magenta that ar...

Designer Kavita Parmar wants you to know that “heritage is the new luxury.” She hones in on this point while discussing XTANT, an artisan market she’s co-hosting in Mallorca in June, 2021. Part folk art market, part art installation and a full-on celebration of heritage craft, the event is a refreshing way for artisans to sell and to build momentum and community. XTANT comes on the heels of TEXTO,...

All aboard? Let’s go to Kabul and meet Ramzia Khorami and Maryam Omar, two vanguards bringing Afghan jewellery and Silk Road-era crafts to the contemporary global marketplace. This is a rare opportunity to hear about the experiences of two women within the country’s burgeoning artisan and design sector. Ramzia and Maryam share the inside story about leaving and returning to Kabul, about what it’s...

Shoshana Stewart went from studying astrophysics to rebuilding the streets of Kabul. Literally. These days, Shoshana heads Turquoise Mountain, an innovative organisation that focuses on reviving historic buildings and developing craft entrepreneurs. In this episode, she tells us the ins and outs of running projects in some of the world’s most challenging places. What did she encounter when she fir...

This story is one of our favourites! We are in Ritoma, a small village in breathtaking grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau, where 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 De...

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.” A long-time resident of Bagru, a tiny village southwest of Jaipur, Jeremy is co-founder of Studio Bagru, a...

The road to Machu Picchu takes you through Chinchero, a village in the Peruvian Andes where you’ll find Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez, a dynamic Quechua weaver. Founder of the Centre for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, Nilda helped revive Quechua textiles traditions and restore indigenous pride. In spite of being a catalyst to move her community forward, she believes the key to a sustainable future lies...

How did a man born in Vieng Xai cave during a revolutionary war end up unlocking the country’s impressive potential for adventure travel? This is a man who sailed from Australia to China with no prior experience. He ran the length of Laos for charity. That’s 1500 km of rugged country. He’s Lao's only Ironman competitor. His eyes are set on Everest. We’ll hear about how Inthy prepares for a challen...

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. Read more on our blog: https:/...

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. Read more on our Blog: https://www.ockpoptok.com/blog/stori...

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. Read mo...

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. No doubt, the modern jewelry industry is rife with exploitation,...

Susan Hull Walker and IBU Movement are at the forefront of galvanising the global artisan community. Susan’s work empowers and connects people—in particular women—at all levels, from a village-based artisan to a woman in corporate or suburban America. She describes IBU Movement as a world wide web of self-authorised women on the move to self-empowerment and self-sufficiency. Through her work with...

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. Read more on our blog: www.ockpoptok.com/blog/myanmar-upcycling-plastic Find out about Hla Day: www.hladaymyanmar...

Palestinian embroidery is a traditional craft dating back centuries. Traditionally used on garments and pillows for the home, this embroidery is rich with motifs and stories of Palestinian culture, nature and village life. Kissweh, a craft enterprise focusing on these embroidery techniques, provides income opportunities for women living in Palestinian refugee camps inside Lebanon. Read more on our...

Artisan textiles and crafts are often talked about in terms of technique, beauty and functionality. But what about the artisan mindset? In this episode, Kitzia Barrera, co-founder of Innovando la Tradicion and Colectivo 1050º, discusses her work with the pottery masters of Mexico. Oaxaca’s iindigenous potters practice a craft and an approach to living that is profoundly wise and sophisticated, and...

Travel with us to Dzongsar, Tibet and meet the intriguing Dawa Drolma. A filmmaker and storyteller, Dawa Drolma helps her father and brother run the Khyenle Arts Center. “Khyenle” refers to a specific alloy and technique used to make lama bronze statues. Incredibly intricate, lama bronze statues are imbued with spiritual qualities revered by Tibetans Buddhists and monasteries around the world. “Kh...

The Moroccan carpet is iconic. It’s flooded the marketplace, but the makers of these textiles have not necessarily benefited. Correcting the transactions, perceptions and values that drive this imbalance is at the core of Artisan Project, a craft and design studio founded and run by Nina Mohammad Galbert. In this episode, Nina discusses her work with weavers in Fes and the Middle Atlas, explains h...

Bibi Hanum founder Muyaho Aliyeva takes us on a journey on the Silk Road, illuminating the rich history of “adras” or Uzbeki ikat and the importance of empowering women in her country. Read more on our blog: https://www.ockpoptok.com/blog/ikat-empowering-women-silk-road/ Visit Bibi Hanum’s website: https://bibihanum.com/

Bookhou Studio co-founder Arounna Khounnaraj is credited with making crafting cool, fun and accessible, and she’s got legions of fans around the world! An enthusiastic advocate of all things handmade, Arounna Khounnaraj is happiest when she is making, teaching workshops and composing beautifully written and photographed books on crafting and mending. Read more on our blog: https://www.ockpoptok.co...