While researching economic development through textiles in Laos, Elizabeth Suda stumbled upon a village where the main source of rural income was making and selling spoons. Upon closer inspection, Suda realized that the materials used to make those spoons were melted and recast bombs.
As the founder of Article 22, a label that acts as a link between product producers in the east and their buyers in the west, Suda shares the stories of creators with consumers so that they can be aware of the design process. After observing the time, energy, and pure soul that Laos men and women put into their creations, Suda made it her mission to economically empower them.
Elizabeth Suda
During the Vietnam War (specifically in 1964), the United States began a nine-year bombing campaign that ultimately dropped 260 million cluster bombs on the country– the most heavily bombed country in history. Most of the bombs didn’t detonate when they hit the ground and instead remained hidden until an unsuspecting victim stepped on one. Of the 75 million bombs that didn’t detonate, only 1 per cent of them have actually been removed. Today, about 300 people a year are hurt or killed by bombs thay lay dormant in Laos, with officials saying it will take about 800 years to permanently clean them all up.
“I felt this story had to be told,” says Suda. “Seeing ‘rocket mortar’ written in English across a piece of shrapnel and watching the artisans transform deadly pieces of history into spoons, is incredible. And, really, in an instant I thought of making a bracelet. It was just one of those moments.”
While living in Laos, Suda decided to add peaceBOMB bracelets to the Article 22 family. The bracelets are made through the same process as the aforementioned spoons, with fragments Vietnam War and non-war scrap metal. Parts of planes, bombs, fuel tanks, bomb casings, guns, and vehicles are melted down and shaped into bracelets and charms with inscribed messages.
Proceeds from peaceBOMB bracelets go directly to the continued clean up of Laos. For each piece sold, Project peaceBOMB donates funds equivalent to the cost of clearing 1 to 15 square meters of land.
“ARTICLE 22 is a social business that focuses on community development through design-driven handmade fashion accessory collections,” Suda says. “But PeaceBOMB also has a charity component that donates the equivalent of the cost of clearing three square meters of bomb littered land. In 2011, we donated the cost of clearing the equivalent of 10,000 square meters of bomb-littered land, but we have a long way to go to help clear the rest.”
At the artisan level, sales of peaceBOMB jewelry continues to grow and bring in revenue that allows families to pay for basic needs like soap, medicine, and school uniforms, to more long term investments like purchasing a cow. One of peaceBOMB’s artisans broke his leg in a motorbike accident and was able to use some of his earnings to pay for his own hospital stay and medicine.
In addition to devoting the bracelets, Suda has also filmed a short documentary (the trailer can be seen below) that highlights the secrecy of the bombings and the slow-to-action help Laos has received for removal.
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Bianca Teixeira writes about style for Toronto Standard. Follow her on Twitter at @BeeLauraTee.
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