My dear friend Ange, the wunderkind behind the Rebecca Recommends website and owner of Image Ark in Kathmandu, has launched Pia – and I wanted you to be among the first to know about it. Pia will be Image Ark’s brand of art pieces, lifestyle objects and accessories. This new initiative stems from several years of involvement on Ange’s behalf in campaigns to produce ethically and locally created handmade, handcrafted, beautiful objects. 

Photo courtesy : Image Ark

Pia’s core mission is a reflection of its founder’s personal narrative. A third-generation global nomad, Ange has lived around the world, deeply identifying with the cultures of the place that she calls home at any certain moment. Within her multicultural family, métissage is the norm.

‘Mele’ hand hammered copper bottles. Photo courtesy : Image Ark

The Pia model is to produce pieces with traditional skills and yet make them amenable to today’s lifestyle, whether it’s a hand-hammered copper lamp or a handwoven pouf. They will celebrate a diverse world in which we honor differences and multiple cultural influences to reach a satisfying balance and harmony. Each product is a mix of stories and cultures; crafted with kindness to people, animals and the environment; and quirky, unexpected, surprising, artistic and contemporary. Once you adopt a Pia piece, it becomes a part of your own human story.

Every piece is handmade . Photo courtesy : Image Ark

The handmade, limited-edition collection celebrates the work of artisans and designers in Nepal and around the world. It is available at Image Ark in Kathmandu, as well as by special order at www.pianepal.com. Selected pieces will also be available at the Timro concept store, and One Tree Stop, also in Kathmandu.

In Ange’s words, “Pia’s dream is harmony among all diverse living things and harmony within ourselves. In Pia’s world, the hummingbird flies gracefully with butterfly wings”.

‘Cowrie’ leather clutch, embellished with hand cut copper pieces. Photo courtesy : Image Ark