30 July 2012
BEIRUT: Wrought iron balustrades, balconies and window frames. French 19th century dowry linen, still carrying the monograms of the brides. Old cement tiles with traditional patterns. Each piece tells the story of 2B Design, a creative social business, making a future out of Lebanons past. When she first moved to Lebanon with her husband Raja Moubarak in 2003, French designer Benedicte de Blavous Moubarak was drawn to the unique style and beauty of traditional Lebanese houses, most of which were either destroyed or abandoned.
Benedicte, driven by love for old objects and the lack of care those houses received, started traveling to Lebanese towns and villages, seeking out discarded architectural elements in scrap yards. With the mission of restoring the unseen beauty of the broken, 2B Design was born, converting those elements into home accessories.
The company collects wrought iron balustrades, gates and bay windows, juniper window frames, tiles from traditional houses and copper utensils, and transforms them into lamps, candle holders, tables, consoles and hangers.
They have a line of throw cushions and bolsters made out of old Indian wedding Saris and traditional fabrics from Uzbekistan. They integrate hand dyed French linen in their products, turning each object into a masterpiece.
The innovativeness of 2B Design lies in its quest to promote social solidarity by integrating marginalized people, Benedicte says. Our project first started as a novel way to try and preserve even just a small part of the Lebanese heritage, whose beauty was unseen. We then realized that we could preserve much more the broken heritage, people, environment and even broken understanding between the East and the West.
As for the broken people, products are handcrafted by underprivileged members of society: poor uneducated women making it a thriving social enterprise.
The inspiration behind this social calling comes from Benedictes early involvement in helping others, she recalls. After my graduation from high school, I worked with Mother Theresa in Jakarta for a few months, caring for the poorest of the poor. I also traveled to Africa and Brazil, where I got involved in social work in slums and shantytowns.
Benedicte and her husband knew that their enterprise had to go beyond the purpose of making profit, to that of causing change. They recognized that to make a difference they had to cooperate with NGOs in Lebanon, and so came their partnership with Arc en Ciel, a social organization caring for the handicapped in Lebanon.
Arc en Ciel has been making wheelchairs for years and has a large workshop with the appropriate equipment. They also employ people with disabilities and so seemed like a natural partner for us. We now work with a team of blacksmiths who spend about half their time producing items for us, in return of an additional wage.
2B Design also works with Habitat for Humanity on refurbishing the homes of the poorest employees. Even women in Baabda prison get their share of 2Bs social calling. They are often given fabrics to work on and contribute to production in exchange for wages.
Respect for the broken environment is one of the values Raja and Benedicte uphold in their work. They recuperate and use old materials that would otherwise end up in scrap yards, littering the environment. They then use natural pigments and traditional blacksmith processes that preserve the original patina and shape of the object and respect the artisans work.
They also work on restoring broken understanding between people. They make it a point to hire people from different religious backgrounds, to work together and understand each other.
Another kind of reconciliation they try to promote is between East and West.
This is one of our main goals. We believe that by introducing creations from the Middle East to Western customers, we are contributing to improve the perception that the West may have of the region and its people, Raja says.
We have also arranged for one of our employees to be taught how to write and read in Arabic by an American student. Thats the kind of interaction we reflect in our work.
With the persistence of Raja and Benedicte, 2B Design won the Best Award for Social Responsibility, Ecological Sensitivity and Universal Design Awareness. Their main market is the U.S, Europe and Japan, but they hope to gain more success in the Lebanese market, the home of the heritage they are trying to preserve.
As for challenges facing the company, one of the most important is remembering the mission of the enterprise and recognizing the needs of the employees, Raja points out. We pay our employees above the market average, and we dont stop working. As a social business, we have to care more for our employees than our profit. We are constantly producing, even if it means a basement full of items, waiting to be sold.
Despite challenges, they remain optimistic about the Lebanese peoples involvement. Although Benedicte designs most of the companys items, many young Lebanese designers have been creating their own collections.
At the end of the day, what is most important to us is that we are giving those people a job that supports them and at the same time restoring their dignity and sense of worth and productivity in the society, Raja says. Our work carries much more meaning when there is beauty, history and hope behind it.
Copyright The Daily Star 2012.
