There is a story behind each of these bags. Of fear, hope, courage, and finally, joy — because, before they took on this fortune cookie shape, they were lifeboats that travelled across the Aegean Sea, carrying thousands of refugees to Lesbos in Greece. And now they could be the start of a new story, one where refugees can regain a sense of self-worth through paid labour, making the bags for a global clientele.
“Everything started last January when my friend, Floor Nagler, volunteered during the refugee crisis in Greece. She was doing bulk landings — getting people out of the boats, giving them dry clothes and something to eat — when she saw the amount of waste materials that got left behind on the beaches,” explains Didi Aaslund, an artist and bag designer. “While there, she also heard that there was a shortage of backpacks. So she thought why not make bags with the boats?”
The two teamed up to create No Mad Makers (the name was inspired by the people, who were now living like nomads, and the fact that the duo wanted to keep them sane by giving them something to do). Made with one square metre of boat plastic, the 21-litre bag (45 cm in height) got its unique shape as Aaslund wanted to make the biggest bag possible with the least amount of material. Using only rivets and four live vest straps, it requires no sewing and can by made in an hour.
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After two trips to Greece, organising workshops and helping people pack their lives into these bags, the friends returned to Holland and decided to launch BAG2WORK — an initiative that would employ refugees to make bags that would then be sold online. “It was also a statement; if you want people to integrate, they must be given the chance to sustain themselves,” says Aaslund. With a hotspot presentation at the 2016 Dutch Design Week, they launched a Kickstarter campaign late last year. Unfortunately, their goal of selling 500 bags could not be completed. “Currently we have paused the initiative, but we are in talks with Lush, the British soap company, to make packaging from life vests,” says the 28-year-old, adding that she hopes to revisit BAG2WORK later this year. She would consider making the bags now if a big order came their way.
Details: nomadmakers.org