T’Shop Laϊ Gallery is run by an association of Lao artists and artisans founded by Michel Saada, a self-taught French artist who arrived in Laos in 1993. Impressed by the simple beauty of everyday Lao utensils such as the coconut ladle, he started experimenting with local materials. As his creations became popular he decided to go into production, creating a workshop specialising in the creation of items of simplicity and elegance made from salvaged wood and natural materials such as coconut and eggshell. He also 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. Michel Saada opened T’Shop Laϊ Gallery behind Wat Inpeng in 1997; it sells high quality products made by the association’s in-house artisans and other Lao craftsmen, in accordance with a philosophy of fair trade and equitable development. T'Shop Lai Gallery also organises around four exhibitions of contemporary art each year, converting its upper floor into a gallery space for the display of work by both expatriate and local artists. At the time of writing it is currently the only non-governmental venue in Laos which provides a platform for the work of promising young Lao artists, offering them limited sponsorship, a space in which to work and, where appropriate, the opportunity to exhibit.