Meet the artisans your purchase is supporting.
Three generations of women work together at the workshop in Dimen.
The young are finally learning about their heritage
and the unwritten craft secrets are passed down the line.
Dimen artisans weave and dye fabric the way their ancestors did.
Fall in love with their fabric!
To make Mulberry paper, one has to collect mulberry branches, seperate an underlying bark layer, dry it, soak it, for several days, cook it with ash, wash it, beat it with a wooden malett, mix with a glue made out of a vine, and carefully layer the paper fibers on a screen. The results are stunning.
Elderly artisans from Kam minority villages deep in the mountains of Guizhou province of China, called affectionately za, have taken on contemporary design to help preserve their cultural heritage and help their communities make sustainable living.
The average yearly wage in the remote Kam villages is $1000, well below the average for even rural China. Young and middle-aged people often seek employment in faraway factories to help ends meet. Thanks to your support, younger Kam have a reason to learn traditional techniques and stay with their families.
Produced by small family workshops, Singing Hands products support the traditional way of living in minority villages in remote areas of China. Following the fair trade model, all profits go directly to the artisans who decide how to invest them in their community.
By purchasing our products, you allow artisans to work from home. They do not have to leave anymore for faraway factories that exploit migrant workforce to make ends meet.
Rooted in local aesthetics, the products merge contemporary design with tradition. They are hand- crafted from local materials with utmost care, each piece getting an individualized treatment by the artisan as she reflects on the unique properties of the material. The fabric is handmade on a traditional wooden loom and then hand-dyed with local plants following the traditional and often time-consuming procedures that have been passed down from mother to daughter for centuries.