CHUN & SHREE
The story behind the business
Shree first met Chun during the Spring of 2016, in Japan over a homemade dish of Nepali Curry. He pitched the idea of starting an online craft house in 2020 when COVID19 pandemic became a threat to the world. Shree’s home country, Nepal, was suffering especially harsh with its main economy based on tourism and extremely few exports. Chun decided to register the business, and became the owner of Himalaya Craft House in 2020 as a sole owner of this Asian American & Pacific Islander #AAPI woman business. Hence the business was founded with the mission of supporting women artisans in rural mountains of the Himalayas. In the same year, Shree reunited with his old friend who started a non-profit school in Nepal. This introduction lead to a decision for Himalaya Craft House to devote 5% of our revenues to support education for children living and studying in the hostel of Modern Model Residential School located in the 6,000 meters high rural mountain in Kalikot, Nepal.
CHUN & SHREE
Chun represents her 300 years of Taiwanese ancestorial root and Shree represents his Newar ethnicity from Nepal.
The typical Haku Patasi ( Haku = Black / Patasi = Sari dress), is the black and red border style clothes worn by Newari ethnicity, a common ethnic group made up of 5% (~1 million) population of Nepal.
“…hope to introduce a different piece of perspective from another part of the world…”
Chun-Chieh Lin
In the beginning, Chun knew very little about Nepali cultures and crafts, but had some knowledge and connections with the aboriginals in Taiwan. With a more reliable freight system from Taiwan and its global outreach, Chun was able to source handcrafts from women representing various local indigenous tribes, such as Paiwan and Bunan tribe. Meanwhile, it was a challenge to source authentic handmade goods with quality designs. A trip to Nepal was necessary to put things in place…. In 2022 Summer, the two partners went to Nepal and discovered some of the most avant-garde designers of this century residing in Nepal, bringing a new perspective to a historically uncolonized country that just lived through a recent civil war in the early 2000s, when its long standing monarchy fell for the first time in a mysterious assassination.
After visiting many local brands and touring their workshops full of skilled women and trained artisans, Chun & Shree finally launch the e-commerce website in the autumn of 2022! Although many local crafts businesses in Nepal had suffered greatly during COVID, with large number of employees being let-go, many of the honest business still sustained and survived the ordeal. We hope by being transparent and honest about the source of our products, we can establish a channel that will benefits the artists (artisans and designers), retailers (us), and our customers ( you), with not just in business, but also in educating each other on the handicraft techniques and the meaning of art through these endangered cultures and artforms.
Through crafts, we hope to introduce a different piece of perspective that have yet to be discovered from another part of the world, whether it may be a perspective for a different type of art or a different cultural practice. We aim to preserve these dying art-forms by spreading the awareness and knowledge of the ancestors in their method of making sustainable handcrafts using traditional skills. We are hopeful that current and future generation living abroad may learn to appreciate and preserve these artforms from their ancestors, while we provide a bridge to spread awareness for connecting cultural roots.
For Business: contact@himalayacrafthouse.com
For Customer Support: customer@himalayacrafthouse.com