UNIQUE INITIATIVE
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON
COLLABORATION AND DESIGN
INTERVENTION?
I think that design intervention might not work
when it comes to well-established spheres. For
example, I can’t advise masters like Gurappa
Chetty on kalamkari or Gajam Govardhana
on ikat-weaving. Today’s fashion designers
come with limited knowledge about textiles so
according to me, we could create a framework
within which artisans can deliver what they know
and can do, post which designers can begin
their thinking process in terms of addition and
product innovation. It is important to make way
for artisans’ viewpoints, thoughts, and inputs. So
the key is collaboration more than intervention.
WHAT ROLE HAS CRAFT VILLAGE
PLAYED TO FACILITATE THE SAME?
Craft Village is focused on treating a piece of
textile not only as a mere material but also as a
form of creative expression and a part of a long-
standing heritage. We educate the community
on the importance of indigenous Indian textiles,
along with building collaborative partnerships
between designers, brands, and artisans.
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I APPAREL I
December 2019
Given India’s diversity, it would be practically
impossible to travel across the country to explore
all its textiles. Keeping this in mind, I established
Craft Village, which acts as a bridge between
rural and urban communities. Its objective is
to provide a platform at the heart of an urban
centre, which has great access, and facilitates
sharing rare and exclusive traditional crafts that
help in the upliftment of craftspersons and their
communities. Craft workshops, in particular,
have been our major focus as we believe that
“craft trading can be limited to a generation, but
training would empower many generations.”
We help in building a direct interface between
craftspeople, end-consumers, and the industry at
large. We have successfully trained over 10,000
people over the last four years.
ACCORDING TO YOU, HOW IMPORTANT
IS SKILL-TRAINING FOR ARTISANS?
In India, we are used to bulldozing, in the sense
that we destroy the past and build a shabby
future. The same has been happening with
the crafts sector. Without having a roadmap
to preserve our crafts, we have gone ahead in
training craftspersons. Most cluster-development
programmes deal with the importance of training
and upgrading the skills of artisans. These
craftspeople are trained with exports-oriented
knowledge. Unfortunately, in that process, we
are creating ‘hybrid skills’, which means that the
craftsperson loses out on the understanding of
their own traditions, while also not being able to
match the demands of the contemporary market.
Instead, why not take pride in what is the
world’s richest country in terms of textiles?
Why not brand and market our own textiles
adequately, encouraging companies and
consumers to buy more and more of them?
What has been my biggest learning is to not