Lao Coco is an association of Lao artists and artisans founded by Mimi Shada, a self-taught French artist who arrived in Laos in 1993. Mimi was impressed by the simple beauty of everyday Lao utensils, such as the coconut ladle, and started experimenting with local materials. His creations became popular and he went into production, beginning with a small workshop in a coconut grove.

As demand for his art and crafts grew, he organised exhibitions in both Vientiane and Bangkok, and expanded his production facility by training local people in the preparation of raw materials and in the techniques of shaping them into works of aesthetic beauty. In 1997 the T’Shop Lai Gallery opened near the city’s Vat Inpeng, to showcase items made at the new workshop nearby and to promote fine art in Laos. Lao Coco now creates and sells products made by in-house artisans and other Lao craftsmen, with a philosophy of fair trade and equitable development driving us forward to the future.

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