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SHARE Inside a rundown building at the heart of Beirut in Lebanon, young Syrian men are hard at work pounding a piece of white cloth with a hand-crafted stamp dipped in mahogany and deep brown. They are among the last artisans to master the old Syrian craft of woodblock printing. “When you come across a block-printed piece, there is something about it in your memory, you feel like you’ve seen it before,” says Ward El Khalaf, 26, a Syrian designer at the recently launched Studio Kunukku. The project underlines Lebanon’s important role in preserving Syrian heritage, despite the country...

ISHKAR uses craft objects to show a different side to countries in conflict Social enterprise ISHKAR provides a retail platform for designers and makers in countries like Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan. In this interview, co-founder Flore de Taisne says she hopes to change perceptions of places labelled as war zones. "We need to tell stories of places like Afghanistan that aren't just about bombs and what you can read in the headlines," said De Taisne. "We wanted to create a platform for artists, photographers and artisans in these places, to showcase what they do." Flore de Taisne and Edmu...