Aid to Artisans
http://www.aidtoartisans.org
We would like to thank Clare Brett Smith, Alden Smith and Marilyn Hnatow of Aid to Artisans for helping us to find some of the remarkable tableware for the Dirt Cafe Water project.
It is through them that we became aware of the Mexican Lead-Free Alliance for artisanal pottery production and Transglass, part of Artecnica's Design with Conscience line.
Judging from the response of our participants, the background stories of the tableware, as well as the beauty and other aesthetic dimensions of these useful objects, enhanced the ritual of eating and discussion during the Dirt Cafe Water Debate and Water Salon for the 2007 London Design Festival.
Tableware from those two initiatives are evidence of the cultural and economic significance and influence of ATA's way of working with artisans. We are impressed by ATA's effective support of artisans in a world where dehumanising mass-production is the all too often unquestioned and dominating force. In this case, the products of artisans enabled by ATA provide compelling evidence of how small-scale producers with craft skills can have a growing place in global and local marketplaces. This is a great story of 'social entrepreneurism', that emerging model for business defined by Jeff Skoll of the Skoll World Forum and other innovators.
Here are a few words about the mission of Aid to Artisans, as described on their web site:
'Aid to Artisans, a nonprofit organization, offers practical assistance to artisan groups worldwide, working in partnerships to foster artistic traditions, cultural vitality, improved livelihoods and community well-being. Through collaboration in product development, business skills training and development of new markets, Aid to Artisans provides sustainable economic and social benefits for craftspeople in an environmentally sensitive and culturally respectful manner.'