HANDMADE JOURNEY
T O C E L E B R AT E T W O D E C A D E S
O F T H E B A N YA N T R E E G A L L E R Y,
A N E W B O O K C H A RT S T H E
E X T R AO R D I N A RY J O U R N E Y
BEHIND THE CRAFT EMPORIUM
AND HOW IT HAS EMPOWERED
CRAFTSPEOPLE ACROSS THE
WORLD TO CHANGE THE LIVES OF
T H E I R FA M I L I E S F O R G O O D
U N D E R T H E B A N YA N T R E E
01/06
2016
Creating a book to tell the story of the Banyan Tree Galleries has been a trip down
memory lane for Banyan Tree’s co-founder Claire Chiang. It would be fair to say that
of the many crafts purchased for the gallery, she has an example at home, providing
a fascinating insight into the heritage of some of the oldest crafts in the world.
Pride of Craft celebrates 20 years of the Banyan Tree Gallery: hundreds of
products made exclusively to sell as a ‘Gift for Good’, giving luxury hotel guests
at the Banyan Tree and Angsana hotels the chance to own a piece of handmade
heritage, while at the same time helping the artisans who made the craft to better
their lives and give their children an education they could otherwise not afford.
Each buying trip has a story of its own. Every piece is a tangible product of the
journey of creator and buyer. Where possible, dying crafts are resurrected with new
ideas, like this eye-catching teapot of Vietnamese china adapted from Chinese Yuan
blue and white ceramics.
AWA R D W I N N E R S
PHOTOGRAPHY: WONG JING WEI
TRADITIONAL
HERITAGE
The Community
Retailer
Award
was
awarded
to the
Gallery at the 2015 Hong
Kong Retail Industry Trade
Awards. This accolade
underlines the important
role that the Gallery plays
in promoting artisanship,
perpetuating support
for environmental
conservation and helping
to sustain the livelihood of
village artisans.
Hand-painted in Vietnam, one of the most
important producers of blue and white ceramics in
Southeast Asia, during the 15th and 16th centuries,
these ceramics bear the Chinese influences of luck
and abundance, decorated with peonies, dragons
and tortoises along with t