Sana Hastakala
Sana Hastakala
For over 15 years Sana Hastakala has been working with artisans from all over Nepal, boosting their income through providing them with steady, fair paid work. At the same time, the non-profit organization helps to revive and preserve traditional handicraft techniques, while developing new skills and product ideas that are suited to the international market. Through a training centre based in Lalitpur, Sana Hastakala assists artisans with skill and product development. The organization works with over 100 producer groups, from larger workshops and co-operatives to individual households. The majority of the artisans are women, and the organization is especially aimed to empowering women from mountain areas, who especially lack economic independence and access to health care and education. Any profits generated from sales are used to provide the artisans with financial assistance.
Sana Hastakala works with artisans from a range of traditional craft areas, including hand-woven dhaka textiles, filigree jewellery, carved wooden products and handmade lokta paper. Lokta papermaking, based on ancient Chinese techniques, was introduced into Nepal a thousand years ago by Tibetians, and means Daphne tree (the bark of which is used to make the paper) in the local dialect. The bark is collected at high altitudes to protect the fragile ecology of Nepalese forests. It is then cleaned and boiled, beaten with mallets into a pulp, and poured into frames to dry in the sun. When dry, the sheets are dyed, stencilled and printed, to produce paper renowned for high durability and excellent texture.
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