Noble Fibre Artisan Marché and Nekorpa created the Artisan & Nomad Community Enterprise Fund to support artisan and nomad communities in January 2026.
Noble Fibre has worked with artisan and nomad communities to create home, life, and limited-edition collections made from natural fibres while supporting fair and sustainable livelihoods for over 2 decades.
Nekorpa, a nonprofit organization, protects sacred pilgrimage sites and supports the living spiritual traditions and communities that sustain them. Together, we share a commitment to help artisan and nomadic communities thrive.
Artisan and nomadic communities continue to practice and sustain cultural, art, hand craft and ancient fibre traditions that are inseparable from sacred landscapes, seasonal rhythms, and generations of inherited knowledge. Many of these traditions are changing rapidly as younger generations leave their communities, traditional livelihoods become more difficult to sustain, and invaluable cultural knowledge risks being lost.
The fund supports documentation of artisan traditions, primarily in Nepal and India, through photography, video, interviews, and fibre and textile archives. We record techniques, stories, cultural practices, and the spiritual significance of these crafts, techniques and practices while this knowledge is still being actively transmitted. The archives will serve as a resource for artisans and nomad cooperatives and groups to sustain these traditions. Much of the knowledge is maintained and shared orally.
• Sustain artisan livelihoods and community enterprises
• Preserve cultural knowledge and heritage for future generations
• Protect the environment and sacred landscapes that support these traditions
The completed documentation will be shared with partners and through Noble Fibre and Nekorpa websites, publications, and social media platforms, helping bring wider recognition and support to these remarkable communities.
The fund supported participation by artisans in international markets in New York and the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe in 2026, creating opportunities for income, visibility, and long-term growth.
The fund supported a special program in February 2026 with the San Diego Museum of Art to honor the work and legacy of Graciela Iturbide, Mexico's most well known woman photographer. NF X Nekorpa curated a collection of artisan craft from Oaxaca a region where Graciela Iturbide lived and worked with indigenous communities including the Zapoteca.