About Kakadu

The concept, the spirit, the philosophy, the way, the vision (and where the name comes from)

Yes! Yes! Behind every product there are organic breathing people being creative.

We, Aharon and Reut Shachar, are partners in life, in creation, and in developing our life’s project: Kakadu. (We also have three grown sons).

We are native Israelis, and live in Tsafririm (the name means “morning breeze”) a cooperative village in the heart of a bucolic nature reserve that has barely changed since biblical times. 

We chose to build our studio and gallery here because we have always felt connected to nature’s pulse. The studio’s window opens to a vista of ancient oaks and the remains of Jewish villages from 2,000 years ago. 

We grow our own olives and press our own oil; we bake our own bread (and cookies). We raise goats and chickens, grow fruit trees and a vegetable garden. In fact, we grow most of our own food. 

Our fundamental premise at Kakadu is that the objects with which we surround ourselves ultimately create the environment we live in – physically and spiritually. If we surround ourselves with alienated mass-produced products, that will be the physical and spiritual environment we end up living in. If we choose to surround ourselves with unique hand-made objects, with objects that carry a sense of individuality, of a connection to nature, to history, then our life’s experience will be one of connection.

We believe that Kakadu is offering a kind of relationship to objects that the world desperately needs. A return to the source: the personal, the creative, the unique in each person, each house, each environment. 

The name “Kakadu” comes from the Aboriginal name for a parrot native to Australia. We have never been to Australia, and have little no connection to it, but we’ve been raising birds and parrots since forever. When we were just starting our company in 1990, Reut had a parrot that would sit on her shoulder while she drew the first designs for products. The company is named after him.