Happy Christmas Day from Nepal!

So with how the production schedule has worked out this year, I am in Nepal for Christmas for the first time.  Its not my favourite time to be here mainly because of the cold weather, which is accentuated by the lack of central heating everywhere, so i am permanently cold!

But I have managed to find some christmas festivities here and there. As well as celebrating with a Christmas Eve Dinner with my expat and Nepali friends, I was invited to Christmas Day Church service with Surya Kala and her family.

I was surprised to find a large congregation of Nepali christians, in the large decorated hall, and thought the sermon fell on deaf ears with me, there were children doing dances and christmas songs in Nepali which was really nice to see! I also loved all the christmas decorations, and every-one was so friendly!

Surya Kala works at the Nepal Leprosy Trust - she has brought up her two teenage daughters Elishiva and Esther on her own, since her husband died of leprosy many years ago, as well as surviving the disease herself.  She is such a kind and cheery woman, despite various health concerns over the last year especially.

Above Left: Esther and Elishiva (Surya Kala's daughters in their sunday best)

Above Right: Surya Kala (third from left) with her friends.

She converted the christian faith many years ago, and has since been very involved in the Nepali Christian community.  At the Christmas Day service, it was the first time she had been back for over a month since a major operation, so it was nice to see how welcomed she was by everyone!

Above: Christmas Dinner still consisted of the daal baht though!!! No change there!!

I hope every one has had a great christmas! It has definately been a different experience to celebrate here!!

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The Art Market with AURA QUE at the Festival of Light in Huddersfield

So the first week of December saw AURA QUE at the Art Market at the Huddersfield Art Gallery during the weekend Festival of Light. 

It was such a fantastic event, with lots of great events around the town - including the Illuminated Light Garden, Aerial Ballet off the side of the Art Gallery building, and various entertainment and acrobatic shows at night!  It was great to see so many people down and around the town, braving the cold for the events!

We were a bit warmer in the Art Gallery for the weekend event - surrounded by such a great mix of local Yorkshire artists and designers (see pictures below of stands by Julia Ogden, Michelle Freemantle and Clare Lane)

It was such a great Christmas event to be part of, and great to see so many people there! Plus I had my first glass of festive mulled wine to start the season, before I had to fly back to Nepal for the next production and sampling session over Christmas and January.

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Christmas is coming!! Making Nepalese lokta paper pop-up Christmas Cards at the Leeds Summat Event

Last Saturday, AURA QUE was part of the Leeds SUMMAT Gathering 2011 at the Leeds University Union.  The event was an all-age gathering for 1000+ people from all walks of life across Leeds and the north to explore the big issues of our time.  There were workshops about political/environmental/social issues with headline speakers, plus performances, activities and stalls - lots going on!

Here is a youtube clip of the opening event at the Leeds Summat 2011, with Harry Gration from BBC Look North: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mItA8O5N8Fw&feature=youtu.be

AURA QUE had a stall of our fair trade bags and accessories in the market area, but we were also involved in a workshop in the Art Zone.  My sister Elspeth led a workshop making pop-up christmas cards, inspired by the Nepali designs that my paper producer makes in Bhaktapur.

The local kids made pop-up christmas trees decorated with glitter and stars, backed onto the Nepali handmade lokta paper card base.  Here are a sample of some the cards they made!

In Nepal, the producers who make the handmade Lokta paper, use this material for various products. For more information on the making process of this paper, please see the AURA QUE 'process' section of our website or a previous blog post: http://auraque.posterous.com/making-paper-on-the-roof-top-in-bhaktapur

AURA QUE currently uses the Nepalese Lokta paper for stationary, swing tickets, business cards, gift bags and notebooks, where I can.  But they also produce beautiful pop up christmas cards (shown below) which are sold at the Holmfirth Fair Traders Cooperative:

http://www.thefairtraderscooperative.co.uk/

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Good luck for business on a Tuesday from Ganesh

Every Tuesday at the Ganesh Mandir in Kathmandu, various business owners, individuals and locals, come to the temple as a tradition on this day of good luck for Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu God of good fortune.

I have been around to the temple with friends on this day, when in the area, and seen the queues of people at the temple, leaving offerings, lighting candles and receiving blessings to give them good luck and 'auspicious beginnings'.

 

Hope it will bring us some more good luck at AURA QUE!!

 

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After years of political squabbling, there may be a turning point for political peace in Nepal!

With the festivities over, its good to see that Nepali politicians are back at work, with intensive talks towards a peace deal secured yesterday.  Its been five years since the end of the Maoist civil war here, the subsequent 'peace process' and various prime ministers and president nominations and resignations.

With the political failings and squabblings over the last few years, creating even more ecomonic problems in Nepal, I really hope for Nepal that this may be a turning point in the country's development and progress. The current Maoist prime minister, Baburam Bhattarai (previously a successful finance minister) seems to be making positive changes to encourage peace, cooperation and reduce corrupt politics here.

Anyway I have probably said too much as a foreigner working in Nepal.....though it may not be my place to be opinionated or political, over the last few years, it has been prevalent how the corrupt politics here have stunted all development and legitimate business progress and export possibilities of Nepali goods. Hopefully positive changes will be made, I am crossing my fingers anyway!!

For more information on the current political situation, please see the BBC News link below - they can explain things much more adequately than I ever could!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15542959

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Brothers, Sisters....its Bhai Tikka!

Today I went to Kumar's house (my leather sample maker), he had invited me to his daughter Alisha's Bhai Tika ceremony with her younger brother and cousin.

Alisha performed this ceremony to her two 'brothers' including putting dots of the brightly coloured powder paste and a mixture of dry rice and red powder, on their foreheads.  They had big plates of food gifts and incense which she gave them, as well as garlands they wore around their neck.

It was beautifully colourful and great to see them perform it in their own home, I was greatful to be part of it!

"The last day of Tihar is Bhai Tika, when sisters put tika on foreheads of brothers, to ensure long life, and thank them for the protection they give.  When the sisters give the tika, the brothers give gifts or money in return. A special garland is made for the brothers out of a flower that wilts after a couple of months, symbolizing the sister's prayer for her brother's long life."

Kumar also gave me some brightly coloured lights that look like flowers with smily faces on! And they flash in different ways - be great to decorate my flat!

Cycling back, I noticed that lots of people had also performed the ceremony already this morning, with the noticeable coloured dots tikka and the flower garlands.  Most families seem to go to each other's houses throughout the day, so different family members can perform the ceremony to each other.  Kumar and his family were going to his sister's house south of the city, so he could perform the ceremony with her. Seems like a good way for families to catch up!

Happy Bhai Tikka!

 

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Dancing in the Streets! Happy Tihar!

Its festival season here in Nepal at the moment! Great atmosphere but hard to get work done as there are endless holidays and festivities during October.

Tihar is a five day Nepali festival incorporating the Hindu Festival of Divali.  Lots of houses and business premises are covered with little lights, it looks so festive! Reminds me of Christmas in the UK!

In the markets and bazaars across town, there has been a flurry of activity, everyone buying decorations for their home and supplies for the puja ceremonies.  The bussle of people and amazing colours was a lot more fun to watch than a christmas rush on Oxford Street for sure!

Yesterday was Laxmi Puja where the Goddess of Wealth, Laxmi is celebrated. Walking through the neighbourhood I am living in, every family had lit candles and made Rangoli decorative designs infront of their houses and businesses, on the street, to welcome prosperity and wellbeing.

Every-one was celebrating in their houses and on the streets, with kids going from house to house to play music and dance, traditionally asking for money and sweets for their performance. Looked like more fun than halloween!

Happy Tihar every-one!

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Our first AURA QUE collaboration for ethical products with Jobs Australia

AURA QUE has recently worked with Jobs Australia, creating gift products with their logo for their National Conference in Brisbane: 12-14th October 2011.

"Jobs Australia supports and represents the interests of non-profit employment and related service organisations that exist to achieve a fair and equitable Australia.

Jobs Australia is the national peak body for nonprofit organisations that assist unemployed people to get and keep jobs. The network helps members to make the most effective use of their resources and promotes the needs of unemployed people for the services and support that will help them to participate fully in society."

Thanks to Jen Mercer and all at Jobs Australia for this opportunity; looking forward to working with you again!

Here are some pictures from the production - we just managed to get it finished before the Dashain festival in Nepal, thank goodness!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Meera, the production manager, distributing cut cloth to the women for stitching the cotton bags.

Working out the correct colours with pantone references for the hand screen-printed Jobs Australia logo.

Various products samples, including cotton bag, and leather gifts such as notebook designs and travel wallet.

For any companies or organisations wishing to have cotton, leather or paper products with their logo and design, AURA QUE would love to work with you on designs and liase directly with our producers to make the best product for you!  Please get in touch: info@auraque.com

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Time off to trek to the Himalaya!

With the festival of Dashain in full flow, I decided to make the most of the week holiday and escape to the mountains to trek to the Annapurna Base Camp with friends that were visiting me in Nepal.  I had done the trek nearly 9 years before on my first visit to Nepal.  It was great to see the mountains and escape from the city....

These are two pictures from my trek in early 2003, getting to Base Camp in the snow.....

Breakfast looking out at the Himalaya....

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Kathmandu Fashion Parade.....

Last week, AURA QUE took part in the Kathmandu Fashion Parade to promote fashion products made in Nepal. It was a good opportunity to promote our products to a local audience, along side other Nepalese designers! Though there were techincal glitches and a power cut, Nepali style, we were pleased to be part of the first edition of this event!

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As written in Republica (national newspaper in Nepal) by Shitu Rajbhandari:

"The accessories showcased by Aura Que were interesting, to say the least, and impressive for the fact that they were all made in Nepal. Through her collection, Laura Queening showed the potential our fashion industry has within the country."

Nice one!!

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Settling into Kathmandu....with a fashion show and earthquake

So I arrived back in Kathmandu on Friday morning, straight to the factories to sort out some stock with my producers and working out the logistics of the Kathmandu Fashion Parade that AURA QUE was part of on Saturday night in the capital.

It was great to show our products to a local audience, and we got a good response from people in Kathmandu, which was really reassuring! I wiill put up pics as soon as i get them!

Events on Sunday night were less fun, with an earthquake hitting the capital Kathmandu.  Thought the epi-centre was on the Nepal/Sikkim border in the East at a scale of 6.8, repercussions were felt through India, Nepal and Tibet. See the bbc coverage:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14965598

I was in my rented apartment at 6.30pm last night and heard lots of locals screaming (mainly in the higher buildings) and then for a good 30 seconds or more, could see the walls and floor shaking - it was like being on a boat, you couldnt remain standing still. It was actually pretty scary as i had no idea what if anything, I could or should do!!

Luckily the damage has been minimal considering the scale, though there has been some casualties in various places.  In a way, hopefully it will make people more aware of the dangers of imminent earthquakes in Nepal, and there will be a lot more preparation to ensure less damage in the future.  I hope so!!

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The new AURA QUE Autumn/Winter 2011 Collection is available now!

After months of preparation in Nepal, the AURA QUE Autumn/Winter Collection is now in the UK and available to purchase! We have our classic bag range which now combines our soft buffalo leather with handknitted banana yarn in tonal colours of black, brown and grey.  The popular neck scarves with leather tabs are available in plain coloured cable or a variety of stripes, and the Jogi Shopper has been made in a thick cotton drill, with matching purses. Take a look!

We are excited to show our new collection and hope you all like it! Until 15th September, we are offering all customers a 10% discount - enter the code HIMALAYA into the online checkout to receive your discount.

Until stocks last, we are also offering a free matching purse for all jogi bag orders, or a free small leather goods item for all leather bags orders (over £70).

See the full gallery on Posterous

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