An education is born

Goldsmith Lina Christensen, who previously created unique jewelry for a small and exclusive audience, has changed her main business avenue: she now focuses on a larger and more international audience.

Her artistic qualities and the fact that her jewelry is handmade from precious materials are unchanged.

The production takes place in the countryside in northeastern Thailand, in a village in the middle of the rice fields far away from everything. Prior to the workshop, no one had a job and there was no future for the village, the young people mostly dreamed about moving to the next big city.

The day to day running of Lina's workshop is done by Ferenc. Lina herself works in the workshop several times a year.

 Lina and Ferenc worked together for years in Copenhagen — "Ferenc is a skilled silver and goldsmith, careful and furthermore a lovely person" says Lina — and then Ference left Europe. Driven by love, he moved  to north-east Thailand to marry and live with his wife her in her village… For a time, Lina and Ference had a long distance collaboration.

 Lina's new kind of business requires a higher production capacity, and both Ferenc and Lina felt a growing desire to disseminate their knowledge — an urge which is associated with the artisan tradition, because the only way to make knowledge survive is by sharing it from one to another.

Lina then decided to invest and had a workshop built in Ferenc' village, The workshop in Thailand was a opportunity for Lina to create her own targeted education program and a production facility at the same time, and the village thereby received a source of income.

 Ferenc reports that the level of craftsmanship is unusually high. The village has had a tradition of mining and silk weaving in the past. In some places you can still see the old women sitting by the roadside weaving silk. Now you see a young generation, dedicated, proud and able to maintain their families.