Ten Thousand Villages has established a new trading partnership in India-with Aravali, an artisan group producing textiles based in Jaipur, India. The first product from Aravali, a shoulder bag stitched with "gudri" embroidery, appeared in stores June, 2008.
Aravali began in 1976 as a small clothing boutique. In the early 1980s its focus shifted away from fashion and toward home decor. Manager Rahul Duggal sees their greatest strength as their commitment to forming long-term relationships; they have been working with many of the same workshops for 10 years or longer. Their target wages are slightly higher than the local market.

Most of the artisans with whom Aravali works are men working in blockprinting workshops in and around Jaipur. "The workshops are within a relatively close geographical range, which allows Aravali to maintain close contact with the artisans, despite their small administrative staff," pointed out Renee Bowers, buyer for India. Aravali also works women in Rajasthan, such as those producing the embroidered bag introduced in June.

"Artisans who can look to the long term are rewarded, as Aravali makes a true effort to provide them with year-round work that is long-term and sustainable."

This collapsible quilt rack is handcrafted from cut metal by Haitian artisans. Among Haiti's most original art forms is the cut metal ironwork from Croix des Bouquets, a small village outside of Port-au-Prince. In the early 1930s Georges Liautaud formed imaginative cemetery crosses from recycled metal cut from oil drums. An artistic tradition has grown from those humble beginnings and now the village has become a center for this art, with more than 60 workshops.