Lush, terraced rice fields make up a million postcard visions from Bali, but on ground level, it's significant to note that a farmer's hand has planted every single seedling that makes up those breath-taking green scenes. Astungkara Way is on a great mission to keep Bali's ancient farming tradition sown into modern life for generations to come.
Above: Traditional Balinese rice farmer, Pak Ketut, still working at age 82. Photo courtesy Astungkara Way.
Read MoreWith over 17,000 tropical islands to call home, Indonesia is a cultural fascination. From batik to betel nuts and every island culture in between, this region has some of the world's poorest places but so rich with traditions.
Threads of Life work directly with more than 35 artisan groups on islands from Kalimantan to Timor, to help empower and preserve ancient cultures unique to this great archipelago.
IMAGE: The Hinggi is traditionally worn by Sumbanese men with the unique motifs announcing a man’s social status. Photo © Threads of Life.
Read MoreFrom a corporate-chasing, career girl in America, to a not-for-profit organisation founder in third world Cambodia, Kate Davis has cultivated everything in her power to inspire fair-trade equality for traditional communities in Cambodia.
Kate's journey is an honest perspective that reminds us that humanity can be achieved with collective unity and kindness. Her story also validates a common though not often practiced affirmation... 'follow your heart…’
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Photo by Brandon Hill.
Read MoreIf you’ve been to Bali you will definitely be familiar with the local craftsmanship and beauty of Canang Saris sprinkled all over the island, as daily offerings for the Gods that have been handmade for generations. This traditional connection to Mother Nature and the spiritual world through ceremony with gratitude is the Bali way…
Natural, sustainable and incredible… the artisan team at Make a Scene! in Bali, Indonesia combine traditional craftsmanship with wild imagination to create theatrical designs set to take the world stage, without being wasteful. Meet the talented, local team creating all the magic behind the Island’s larger-than-life scenes…
Image courtesy Juraj Sedlak
Read MoreWoodblock printing in India is an old-world trade that still produces mile after mile of beautiful fabrics that could easily wrap the world!
Jeremy Fritzhand is the founder behind Studio Bagru in Rajasthan. He's been collaborating with these traditional artisans for years and is on a mission to help protect and empower these hard-working communities, so that their ancestral craftsmanship never fades. He takes us through the process of this 4000-year-old tradition… one manual woodblock print at a time.
Photo: Namdev Krishi Farm communal drying space in Bagru, India. Photo by Studio Bagru.
Read MoreWith 50 countries in 5 years mapped out in her soul, it's fair to say, Emily Lush loves to travel. She's a storyteller with all the savvy social skills to manage work on the roam. her passion for indigenous and cultural sustainability are well-preserved in her words and imagery. She's a 'Brissy' girl (Australian), now based in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Caucasus region is her current lifestyle muse.
Read MoreIf your travel dream is to get lost in the chaos of souks and side streets in Marrakech, well… we’ve discovered a slow stay not far away… to rest your weary feet and take your mind to a million worlds away…
Photo © Berber Lodge.
Read MoreIn a remote part of the world is a vibrant and culturally thriving community of textile artisans. Although they inhabit a landscape that is a gentle palette of pastel hues, their handcrafted designs are some of the most colourful in the world. Meet the artisans from Cusco, Peru. This community is so unique and invaluable for world heritage interests and the textile industry, Threads of Peru is doing everything to help preserve this long-standing traditional community.
PHOTO Megan Revell. Artisan weaver Demesia Sinchi Echame partners with Threads of Peru.
Read MoreHer beauty, beyond words. Her history has sailed across the Adriatic Sea since ancient Roman times. Each of her islands are unique, the residential ones dream drops of lifestyle perfection. Dubrovnik is her medieval heart throb. Also a UNESCO World Heritage listed travel fascination that leaves visitors with awe-struck impressions to last a lifetime. Darling Croatia we love you. But your sweetest surprise is your traditional token of love. A little, red, national treasure, the licitar heart. Especially on Valentine’s Day.
Read MoreMeet Akosua Afriyie-Kumi, the gorgeous designer behind fashion label AAKS. She’s taking generations-old weaving tradition from her home country of Ghana, to the fashion world in an explosion of colour, style and authenticity.
We spoke to her about her love of slowmade-by-hand fashion and Ghana … and how she’s combined both loves to create an authentic and loveable brand that stands tall in the modern retail world.
Photo: © courtesy of AAKS.
Read MoreJake James specialises in architectural and contemporary modern-design forged ironwork, but he knows that everytime he places a piece of steel into an intense flame, he is stepping back into history which is several thousands of years old.
An Englishman now living in Canada, Jake has two decades of award-winning work under his belt, and crafts forged metal not just into a finished product, but into a sensory experience.
Read MoreMandy Aftel is not your average artisanal perfumer. She is ranked in the top seven of natural perfume makers in the world by Forbes. She was recently invited to collaborate on a ‘multi-sensory’ project led by GOOGLE. Her nose has been appointed to recreate a perfume for a 2000 year old, Egyptian child mummy, and… Leonard Cohan asked her to create a signature perfume for him.
Portrait photo by Foster Curry
Read MoreAs days and nights grow cooler in the Southern Hemisphere, our northern conterparts awake to the hope of spring. From his attic window in Norway, woodworker Andreas Soderlund watches snow melt into sunshine, and pieces of timber turn into intricately carved pieces of art.
Read MoreThink Elizabethan England… a generation of social hierarchy climbing high on the romance of fresh poetry, literature and music prolific to its time. But wherefore art thou exquisite Tudor style fashion now?
Photo by Manuel Harlan ©RSC (Queen Ann costume on stage.)
Read MoreThe Andalusia region of Spain is a cultural feast with its rich history of Arabic rule very evident in the architecture, food, lifestyle and Flamenco!
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