Small companies dedicated to custom and artisanal craft gathered collectively in south Salt Lake for the first-ever Mosaic Bazaar in March.
Mosaic Bakery, a web based supply Lebanese and Armenian bakery, organized the occasion. Homeowners of the bakery hoped the market would spotlight the creative craft and dedication of Center Jap custom.
Every enterprise registered to promote on the bazaar match the theme of “Dedication to Custom,” promoting their handmade items to the general public.
Mosaic Bakery house owners Tereza Bagdasarova and Rodeina Soweidan began their bakery from their houses on the finish of 2019. As soon as the COVID-19 pandemic hit and noticed small companies that had been a staple of their group exit of enterprise, they weren’t certain if they’d make it.
With a pivot of their marketing strategy, Bagdasarova and Soweidan determined to grow to be a web based bakery moderately than proceed to search for a location to lease. They now fulfill orders for his or her conventional Lebanese and Armenian pastries by way of their Instagram account @mosaicbakery.
Bagdasarova is Armenian and Soweidan is Lebanese, they usually wished to convey to life a market just like what they expertise of their dwelling cultures — one thing just like indoor bazaars or culinary markets which might be widespread within the Center East.
“Right here there isn’t all the time a chance for companies to come back collectively indoors and have one thing that’s a novel means for folks to come back collectively. We wished to present it a strive, see what would stick and hopefully flip it into one thing that’s not solely ongoing however extra group pushed,” Bagdasarova stated.
Bagdasarova and Soweidan hoped the bazaar would give distributors who could not all the time frequent the everyday farmers market a chance to showcase their work.
“We actually wished to ascertain a Center Jap or Mediterranean really feel to it and get distributors who match that really feel,” Soweidan stated.
Hanifa Javadi is from Afghanistan and got here to the U.S. as a refugee. Javadi works with different refugee ladies from Afghanistan in Utah to create jewellery, baggage and different handmade items.
Javadi stated it is necessary for her to introduce her tradition to folks in Utah and present what they’ve in Afghanistan. Her enterprise, Free Girls, at the moment employs 26 ladies who assist Javadi create the work she sells.
“I like to create, and a lot of the ladies from my nation know the way to sew. All of them have a machine at dwelling,” Javadi stated.
Javadi is aware of how tough it’s to transition to a brand new tradition and language and affords these creative alternatives as a solution to earn an earnings for the ladies concerned in Free Girls.
“The ladies don’t know the way to communicate English and don’t know the way to drive. That’s why I create this enterprise to work collectively,” Javadi stated.
Javadi sells her merchandise on-line, at markets and also will fulfill specialised orders.
“I’ve made 100 silver keychains for BYU and 10,000 baggage for Younger Residing. I labored with 26 ladies to create this,” Javadi stated.
Most distributors that offered on the Mosaic Bazaar intertwine items of their heritage and tradition into their artwork.
Tala Shibab, a Lebanese American, sells a wide range of handmade gadgets from painted canvas pouches, crocheted baggage and hand-crafted earrings.
A few of Shibab’s earrings include an evil eye, a logo present in Latin American, Asian and Center Jap cultures that’s stated to thrust back evil. Though Shibab herself doesn’t imagine it holds any energy for her, she loves its cultural significance.
“A number of cultures within the Mediterranean like Greece or Iran have it. It’s throughout which I really like, as a result of it brings in several cultures collectively,” Shibab stated.
Audrey Maynard felt grateful to have the ability to showcase her handmade candles on the bazaar.
Maynard’s enterprise, That Retro Glow, sells hand-poured beeswax and coconut oil candles that she pours into thrifted and repurposed vessels.
“Each candle is just a bit bit completely different. I let the character of every vessel communicate to me and say ‘I wish to scent like this or that,’” Maynard stated.
Maynard, who labored in larger schooling fundraising for about 20 years, determined she wished to be dwelling extra along with her household. She began That Retro Glow final 12 months.
“My objective this 12 months is to see if I can get into some native outlets and make connections with different native enterprise house owners and entrepreneurs to see what I can do to enrich their enterprise,” Maynard stated.
Maynard promotes her candles on her web site, Fb and Instagram.
“I used to be so honored that the Mosaic Bazaar included me as a result of I simply stumbled upon this. I puzzled if they’d settle for me, and the Mosaic Bazaar stated, ‘In case you do issues the sluggish means and it’s a real handcrafted product, then please be a part of us,’” Maynard stated.
