Workshop Edena, which creates various traditional accessories with thick felt and silk, is operating in Racha, namely Oni since 2015. The founder of the workshop, an artist-designer by profession, Lili Maisauradze, told BM.GE, after finishing the institute, she decided to return to Racha, open a workshop and teach this activity to other people.
"The workshop works in several directions, we make accessories with thick felt and silk. I am an artist-designer and after finishing the institute, I decided to return to Racha, I opened my own workshop and at first, I only created accessories, but over time I wanted to teach the activity to others and expand it further. At present, 11 women are actively employed, we are doing our best and there is great interest as well,'' Lili Maisuradze states.
According to her, the interest is rather high from tourists and they welcome exports because handicrafts are more appreciated abroad.
As for the challenges, according to her, expensive materials are the most difficult challenge.
"We import materials mainly from Turkey and Europe, the pandemic has made this process a little more difficult, the price increase has also been added to it, this is the most important difficulty at this stage, which forced us to increase the price of our products by 5-7%. Also, like other small businesses in the region, we also have one challenge - being far from the capital city, which means being away from opportunities. Enterprises in the city can participate in exhibitions more easily and are more active, and we have to strengthen online sales and find other ways," says Lili Maisuradze.
Traditional souvenirs produced by "Edena" are sold in Oni, as well as in the social enterprise store "Eski" in Tbilisi and via the social network. As for their fees, it starts from GEL 5 and the most expensive product costs GEL 250.
According to the founder, the price varies depending on the complexity of the work. The initial investment for the creation of the workshop was GEL 7,000.
