An Oasis of global craftsmanship recently appeared at 10 Bury Place near the British Museum, but it won’t be there for long, so hurry.
“A gathering of extraordinary global craftsmanship from around the world”, is how Jarin, one of the managers and producers, described the shop to us when we went to its opening on October 11th. The pop up outlet closes on October 24th, but the people behind it – The Oasis Collective – want to open up a different site every two months, in different parts of London.
The idea, said Jarin, was to create “an urban oasis” as an escape from the city. The craftsmanship he referred to comes in the form of clothes, purses, furniture and jewellery. Everything is made in small batches, and features exquisite detail. And the people who make it come from all over de world, including Kabul, Syria, Congo and Afghanistan. The brands they stock include Artisan & Fox; Bim Burton; Lola & Mawu; Poapoa, Sabbara Embroidery and Threads of Syria.
We spoke with Jess, who is Congolese, and whose brand uses his family name – Kilubukila – which means “be wise”. Kilubukila makes furniture which tries to use design to bring “different countries and cultures together,” said Jess. He also hoped their work would remind people that there is more to Congo than war.
The customers we met seemed happy. Kelly said the prices were “fair” and Anisha said it she liked the fact that the people who designed and made the work were getting a “fair share” of whatever it sold for.
The only thing they questioned was the playlist. Music really sets the mood, and at this event they played soundtracks from classic movies, whereas it would have been better to play something more ethnic.
Overall however, we loved the feeling of being teleported from Bloomsbury to some cosy and yet tropical vacation destination.
Photographer/Reporter: Marta Cerdà
Interviewer: Bathilde Ibenge
