The Artisan Lab was co-founded by Nicola and Ottavio in 2023. That summer, Nicola was searching for handmade pieces to decorate her place in Madrid, and after Ottavio gifted her several ‘Intango’ baskets, they quickly realised that these unique pieces could transform any living space. About a year ago, as they began this journey, they brainstormed what this project meant to them as founders. Art, transparency, and empowerment emerged as the core values of The Artisan Lab.
Nicola and Ottavio constantly seek new and meaningful ways to connect with these ideas—both through their artisans and on a personal level—ensuring that the lab remains a force for both creative expression and social change.
What is the ‘art’ in artisan?
An artisan can be described as someone who is skilled at making things by hand. Our definition also encompasses the need to preserve heritage and culture. Art in artisan means celebrating the art of ritual as weaving, self-expression through hand craftsmanship that creates the connection between the past and present through the ancient art of weaving. Through storytelling, our goal is to create a connection between our customers and our artisans. As we believe there is no greater art than creating a community that transcends age, language and geographical boundaries.
Our definition of Empowerment
For us, empowerment is the process of developing strength and confidence to take charge of one’s life and rights. At The Artisan Lab, thisinvolves uplifting rural communities through ethical business practices, maintaining high standards of quality, and fostering trustful, long-term relationships that ensure steady income for our artisans. It also means connecting projects with communities, encouraging them to recognise their skills and seize opportunities. Ultimately, empowerment is about nurturing artisans' creative instincts, instilling confidence in their unique talents, and allowing customers to make a meaningful impact on the lives of those who craft these handmade items.
A note on Transparency
Transparency is our approach to telling our artisans’ stories, it’s rooted in the materials that make our products and the process undertaken by each artisan, serving as the foundation of our supply chain. The Artisan Lab works alongside the artisans and the head of cooperatives to bring our products closer to our customers- we are committed to cutting out intermediaries/ the middleman so we can reinvest in our artisans/ communities.
Basketry and storytelling are inextricably linked. Our focus on visual storytelling involves sharing the personal stories of our artisans as well as sharing weaving techniques, their cultural significance, and the thought process behind each design. We strive to deepen your understanding of the story behind your purchases, and most importantly, of the community that skillfully crafted them.
ART
TRANSPARENCY
AND
EMPOWERMENT
These words have become the building blocks which we have built The Artisan Lab on. As we continue to grow, we are committed to finding new ways to uphold these values and we will be sharing our journey with you every step of the way.
How do we measure impact?
Our main goal at The Artisan Lab is to make a lasting impact on the communities we partner up with. We also realise that measuring ‘impact’ is also problematic and that there will always be areas that we can improve on. ‘Impact’ for us is a learning process, and the more we immerse ourselves in the global artisan economy, the more effective we can become at showing how we are positively impacting the communities we work with.
Our People Strategy
Acting as an ethical business
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Streamline the connection between artisans and customers by reducing intermediaries
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Create strong, long-lasting partnerships with our cooperatives
- Carry out a deep analysis of the different needs of our cooperatives
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Foster a culture of openness and transparency in sharing the goals of our collaboration
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Positively Impacting Lives
- Improve income to earn more than the poverty threshold
- Raising consciousness regarding the needs of the communities to a more global audience
- Promote health and wellbeing and provide opportunities for health assessments
- Promote a culture of lifelong learning to empower our artisans through continuous skill development
- Provide access to a global marketplace with standard/consistent international pricing
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SOCIALLY IMPACTFUL
ARTISAN
ENTERPRISE
What do we mean
by sustainability?
We understand that ‘sustainability’ is more than just a label and we are aware that it is a full-time commitment. Our approach to sustainability involves:
- Storytelling (blade of grass to basket): We connect our customers to the entire basket weaving process, and we expand into other areas of craftsmanship, we are determined to always take our customers behind the scenes/ From blade of grass to final product- through visual storytelling,
- Training: We enhance our artisans lives by giving them the tools to be financially independent and further their craftsmanship skills, through capacity-building, we aim to equip our communities with the means to maintain their operations.
- Styling: We guide you on how to care for your handcrafted products and creatively restyle them in versatile ways to enhance your use of the product
- Material Choice: We embrace sustainability by using natural resources to handcraft our basketware and champion socially responsible practices.
Although we understand that there is more work to be done to establish ourselves as a sustainable brand, we feel positive about the progress we have made. In the coming year, our goal is to source more sustainable resources, including recycled glass, organic wool, and upcycled wood. We can’t wait to share more with you.
A note on our partners
(artisans)
At The Artisan Lab, we are adamant about collaborating with artisan cooperatives that are aligned with our vision. For us, it’s crucial that their values are aligned with our mission. Our current partners are both projects led by women that aim to support women who have experienced domestic violence by providing them with opportunities to generate an income that would likely not have access to otherwise.
Julienne and Claudine embody Art, Transparency and Empowerment. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to start The Artisan Lab, they are our continuous source of inspiration and we are forever grateful to them both.
Claudine
Kigali/Muhanga
“I feel like I’ve always been working with The Artisan Lab, since day one everything has gone smoothly and the artisans are so happy to have consistent work.’
Kicirwanda is a women-led initiative founded in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. It all started when Claudine (insert last name) lost her job, and decided to turn her passion of artisanship and handcrafts into a business. Starting out with just two artisans, she began selling their work through social media. Claudine travelled to rural villages to find women interested in weaving and provided them with training. Through her initiative, women are able to support their families and pay for essential needs such as medical insurance and school fees.Through developing these technical weaving, these communities of women have not only been empowered to not only create beautiful handcrafted pieces, but they have also strengthened their roles in their families and their community.
Kicirwanda and The Artisan Lab are committed to training our artisans and giving them access to global markets, we can’t wait to share more with you.
Julienne
Young Women Destination
“The Artisan Lab has breathed new life into our business, enabling us to open up our business to international markets and empower women by enhancing their skills.”
Julienne started Young Women’s Destination because she was also a victim of domestic violence. In her community, she saw many women who were deserted, who weren’t capable of continuing school and who had children at a very young age. Julienne wanted to create a space for these women in her community, by building her own. ‘Destination’ refers to their vision, the brighter future they aim to follow and help them become independent by earning a living for themselves. Julienne believes in the power of collective weaving as it gives the artisans a space to express themselves- it’s a space for them to share their experiences and talk about their problems.
When we give women the time and space to learn their craft, these women flourish. Julienne emphasised the importance of honesty and transparency- by giving the artisans a space to express themselves they can speak freely. Through this ethos, she has built a foundation of trust and high quality in their craftsmanship, and this is exactly what we aspire to achieve.
