PortrAid: Get art. Give work.

The problem

Spinning and weaving by hand is a centuries-old craft in Ethiopia. However, due to the increasing availability of mass-produced textiles from home and abroad, this craft is slowly disappearing. Ethiopian artisans, whether women or men, are rarely able to earn a decent salary or engage in regular work. Although the cotton quality in Ethiopia is excellent and yarns are spun and dyed there, one of their problems is to buy good working materials such as looms to produce high quality fabrics that could provide them with a better and fairer income to support their families.

The idea

Portraid.org is an “Art Aided Charity” project initiated by the ABURY Foundation and photographer Thomas Rusch. The idea is simple: with the help of photography, problems are to be artistically depicted and solved. The unique portrait of a person is sold, and the proceeds directly solve the problem of the person in the picture: PortrAid.

Website: www.portraid.org