Idea 68 of 500. Cluster 3: Souvenirs that are actually from here
Postcards and prints by living Sri Lankan artists, sold with the artist's name and story
The mechanism, from the book
The Zermatt water bottle. Sigiriya has not got a stone with its own name on it.
Every idea in cluster 3 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Invite three artists you know to let you print five postcards each from their work, with the artist's name and a short story on the back. Agree a split, print a small run, and sell them at a café, a guesthouse and a weekend market. Postcards sold, and one artist asking for a reprint, are the proof.
- Who pays first
- Visitors who want a postcard worth keeping, and cafés and guesthouses that want local stock that sells.
- What leaves today
- Postcards sold to visitors rarely name the artist; named local work pays a living artist every time a card sells.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. FiveThe Most Photographed Rock in the World
The Matterhorn water bottle and the souvenir that is from there
More from cluster 3
Idea 68 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.