Stories
Reportage from the workshops
Long reads, interviews and field notes — written by editors who travel to the makers in their own villages, before the camera comes out.
Pottery & CeramicsÉvora, Portugal
Alentejo Blue: The Last Azulejo Painters of Évora
In a workshop tucked behind a Roman temple, three women still paint tin-glazed tiles the slow way — and a new generation is finally lining up at the door.
Wood CarvingLom, Norway
The Acanthus Revival: Rosemaling in the Norwegian Fjords
Two hundred and sixty years after a wandering painter taught the swirl of European baroque to peasant farmers, a younger generation in Lom is picking up the brush again.
Textiles & WeavingIsle of Harris, Scotland
Harris Tweed: The Island That Weaves Itself
On the Outer Hebrides, the only fabric in the world protected by an Act of Parliament is still woven on pedal looms in croft sheds. We spent a week with the weavers of Lewis.
Folk PaintingsBagheria, Sicily
The Last Cart Painters of Bagheria
Sicilian carretti once carried lemons and wheat across the island in liveries so loud they could be heard before they were seen. Three workshops still paint them — for weddings, films, and a quiet form of memory.
Textiles & WeavingPag, Croatia
The Shepherds of Pag and the Lace That Won UNESCO
On a windswept Croatian island where almost nothing grows, women have been making a lace so fine it was once used as currency. UNESCO listed it in 2009. The waiting list is now three years long.
Pottery & Ceramicsİznik, Türkiye
The Blue Pottery of İznik Comes Back
For four hundred years, İznik tiles covered the inside of Süleyman the Magnificent's mosques. Then the workshops closed. A foundation in the same town has spent twenty-five years working out how they did it.
Traditional JewelryCórdoba, Spain
Andalusian Silver: The Filigree Workshops of Córdoba
A craft brought to Spain by the Phoenicians, refined under the Caliphate, and almost killed by costume jewellery. In Córdoba, a handful of orfebres are still threading silver by hand.
Ceremonial MasksMas, Bali
The Mask Makers of Mas Village
In Mas, a Topeng mask is consecrated before it is ever worn. The carver fasts, the wood is asked permission, and the first stroke is made on a date the Balinese calendar has been arguing about for a thousand years.
Folk PaintingsMadhubani, India
Mithila Painters of Bihar
Women have painted the walls of Madhubani homes for centuries to celebrate marriages and births. Today the same hands hang in the galleries of Tokyo and Berlin.
Pottery & CeramicsFez, Morocco
The Geometry of Fez: Zellige in the Old City
Zellige tilework is cut by hand, one tessera at a time, in workshops that have not changed since the 14th century. We spent ten days in the medina with the masters and the apprentices.
Pottery & CeramicsPuebla, Mexico
The Potter's Legacy: Talavera in Puebla
Maria Elena has been crafting Talavera pottery for forty years in Puebla, Mexico. Each piece carries five generations of fingerprints — and one of the strictest appellations of origin in the Americas.
Textiles & WeavingSacatepéquez, Guatemala
Threads of Heritage: Mayan Backstrap Weaving in Guatemala
In the Guatemalan highlands, Mayan backstrap weavers turn cotton into cosmology — and into a quiet political act of refusing to disappear.
Textiles & WeavingNibutani, Hokkaido
A Quiet Revival on Hokkaido
After more than a century of suppression, Ainu wood and textile traditions are being taught again — in schools, museums, and home looms across the north.
Traditional JewelryAgadez, Niger
Silver of the Tuareg: The Cross of Agadez
Across the Sahara, the cross of Agadez is more than jewellery. It is map, compass, and a father's parting gift in a language without words.
Folk PaintingsAubagne, Provence
The Little Saints of Aubagne: Provence's Santon Makers Prepare for Summer
In the red-clay hills behind Marseille, a handful of family ateliers spend the long days of May sculpting the miniature Provençal world — one fisherman, one shepherd, one baker at a time.
Wood CarvingNusnäs, Dalarna
Midsummer in Dalarna: The Painted Horses of Nusnäs
In a lakeside village north of Stockholm, three carving families still shape and paint the Dala horse — the small red totem that has quietly become Sweden's national object.
Textiles & WeavingValensole, Provence
Blue Fields, Blue Threads: The Lavender Weavers of Valensole
For three weeks each July, the plateau of Valensole turns violet — and a cooperative of eight weavers turns that colour into linen napkins, dish towels and the coarse-woven bags that carry the harvest home.