Baka was founded by Rebecca Reubens in 2020, against the backdrop of the pandemic. Rebecca already had her hands full with Rhizome, her sustainability design studio in the space of decor. Founding Baka and building the brand not only seemed daunting, but downright foolish.
Which is why the name. Baka means fool in Japanese. Rebecca loves Japan for its minimalism and because it keeps tradition contemporary. The idea of being a fool resonates with her journey—the fool did not know it was impossible and so she did it. The thought of working at the intersection of craft, design and sustainability sounded impossible to many, especially alongside being a mother, a military-wife, doing a PhD, being an author, and running a studio.
Baka was founded by Rebecca Reubens in 2020, against the backdrop of the pandemic. Rebecca already had her hands full with Rhizome, her sustainability design studio in the space of decor. Founding Baka and building the brand not only seemed daunting, but downright foolish.
Which is why the name. Baka means fool in Japanese. Rebecca loves Japan for its minimalism and because it keeps tradition contemporary. The idea of being a fool resonates with her journey—the fool did not know it was impossible and so she did it. The thought of working at the intersection of craft, design and sustainability sounded impossible to many, especially alongside being a mother, a military-wife, doing a PhD, being an author, and running a studio.
Baka happened just BECAUSE Rebecca was baka—a fool who didn’t know dreaming big and wanting to change the world, and doing things that make your heart sing, were all things that were supposedly impossible.
Baka happened because for Rebecca, moving between furniture and jewelry was porous and simply a re-articulation of space. The ear became her ceiling and the shoulder her floor in the case of earrings. Because she believed that a condensed artefact—where meters become millimetres—is all the more precious.
'Baka' is also Rebecca's nickname. When her brother was a toddler, he couldn't say her name and so called her 'Baka'. The name stuck. Baka is also a typical Gujarati slang word for dear—which resonates with us since we are located in Ahmedabad.
Baka can do what it does because of the small, committed and proud team of people who truly want to be the change we want to see. We work out of our atelier in Ahmedabad, where we also craft our pieces. If you're in Ahmedabad, pop into the studio and we can chat about how we are passionate about sustainability. We hope we soon live in a world where the good guys don't need to prove they are sustainable, and the bad guys are labelled unsustainable instead.
If you want to know more about why we do what we do, we would love to hear from you at bakajewelry@gmail.com.
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