Edmund Le Brun and Flore de Taisne

Co-founders, Ishkar, London

During a three-year period living in Kabul, Edmund Le Brun and Flore de Taisne saw how conflict and political unrest were leading to the increased isolation of artisans in Afghanistan. They noticed, too, that this problem was repeated in other countries in the region, including Yemen and Iraq. In response, in 2016 the couple founded Ishkar, a trade and travel company with a shop located in East London. By providing makers in war-torn countries with a platform to share their work with the wider world, Ishkar aims both to preserve traditional crafts and to give them new life through contemporary designs. Proceeds of Ishkar’s sales go to the artisans and to charities supporting causes in these regions. The pair met in Afghanistan, where Le Brun was working for Turquoise Mountain, a Kabul-based NGO seeking to revive the arts, crafts and historic sites of the ancient city, and de Taisne worked as a consultant for aid agencies.

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