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Discover the stories and inspirations behind ISHKAR.

Who gets what: our product pricing explained - ISHKAR

Who gets what: our product pricing explained

How, we are often asked, can a box of six glasses made in Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest countries, be sold in London for £80? In this blog post we aim to show you who gets what and why.

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The Birth of Blue - ISHKAR

The Birth of Blue

Until relatively recently in human history ‘blue’ as we know it did not exist. There is no word for ‘blue’ in Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Chinese or Japanese. As hard to imagine as it is, ‘blue’ was sim...

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Afghanistan by Choice - ISHKAR

Afghanistan by Choice

Theresa May’s recent triumph as Tory party leader reminded us of a controversial decision she took earlier this year. Despite 2015 being the most dangerous year to date in terms for civilian casual...

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Tradition as Radical - ISHKAR

Tradition as Radical

At the beginning of this year, Flore and I found ourselves at the world trade fair for homewares, Maison et Objet in Paris. After a morning of walking through the colossal trade halls we were quite...

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Traces of Aleppo - ISHKAR

Traces of Aleppo

[replace_with_featured_image] Fig 1. Traces of Aleppo [source unknown] Zaina Sabbagh bought her first wooden printing block when she was 14. She found it in the Aleppo Souk where she was shoppi...

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Act For Afghanistan: Ways to Continue Supporting - ISHKAR

Act For Afghanistan: Ways to Continue Supporting

Now is not the time to stop reading, talking and thinking about Afghanistan. The situation continues to worsen by the day. So we've put together a few actions that you can take to make sure the wor...

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Handmade - so what? - ISHKAR

Handmade - so what?

Once a hipster trend, the desire for handmade goods has become thoroughly mainstream. It can be seen from the meteoric rise of Etsy, right through to proliferation of the word ‘artisan’ on products...

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Timbuktu & Back - ISHKAR

Timbuktu & Back

I remember singing a nursery rhyme about Timbuktu when I was in primary school. I can’t remember what it was now – was it ‘from Kalamazoo to Timbuktu’? – but I remember the images clearly. A fabled...

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A letter in the time of COVID-19 - ISHKAR

A letter in the time of COVID-19

This is the time for facts, not fear. This is the time for science, not rumours. This is the time for solidarity, not stigma. We are all in this together, and we can only stop it together.

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LET'S WORK IT OUT! - ISHKAR

LET'S WORK IT OUT!

As humans, we crave order. For many, productive work provides this structure. The world around us might be chaotic. But with work we can, at least at times, control what we do in a way we are rarel...

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The Danger of the Single Story - ISHKAR

The Danger of the Single Story

Last night a car rigged with explosives targeted Le Jardin restaurant in Kabul. The explosion killed two people, and wounded 15 others.

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AFGHANISTAN - QUE LIRE, QUE REGARDER? - ISHKAR

AFGHANISTAN - QUE LIRE, QUE REGARDER?

Outre le blog de Peacock House, de nombreux ouvrages/documentaires de qualité soulignent différentes facettes de l'Afghanistan. Ce pays a fait couler beaucoup d'encre au sujet de ses guerres, dont ...

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