The craft of smuggling

A shipment of one of our wooden Jali trays was recently held by Border Force. When we finally received the package, we unwrapped the packaging to find that Border Force had drilled a small hole thr...

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.

Do we stay or do we go?

When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban we immediately paused trading with Afghanistan. After much deliberation, we have now taken the decision to continue our work in the country. Here, we are sharin...

Blingistan as in the land (-istan) of Bling

We spoke with Blingistan founder, Shamayel, about the need for playful, bold, conversation starters that can change the narrative about Afghanistan. 

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...

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...

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...

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...

EMERGENCY PRINT SALE 2022

On the 15th of August 2021, Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. As the world looked on, ISHKAR launched a sale of photographic prints to raise money for EMERGENCY Hospitals in Afghanistan. Like you, t...

Collection: Handmade in Pakistan & Yemen

Our handmade shirts and soap stone bowls, photographed by Charles Thiefaine on the island of Socotra, Yemen. November 2021. 

The Houses of Beirut by Julie Audi

It’s been a whirlwind for Beirut. Lebanon’s capital has spent the past twenty years trying to rebuild itself and its identity. I grew up in a city marked by scars of a brutal civil war, scars that ...

GUEST EDIT | SELMA DABBAGH

Selma Dabbagh is a British Palestinian lawyer, novelist and short story writer. We asked Selma which ISHKAR pieces are inspiring her this winter. See here selection here: