Designs of hope

Crafting culture

India is known for its vast repertoire of handicrafts. However, owing to the dip in demand for handicrafts, most craftspersons are giving up their traditional craft to pursue more lucrative professions. The need of the hour is to ensure that inherited skills do not fade, writes Brinda Suri.

While walking through a weavers’ cluster in Sangla town, I notice stunning patterns taking shape on crude looms. The happy-faced ladies are weaving the border of a doru — a longish, thick shawl draped traditionally from shoulder to ankle by women across Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh.

It’s magical to see the process of weaving, but I can’t take my eyes away from an irony: the weavers themselves are wearing inexpensive, powerloom shawls and scarves. I question them on that and in response receive a burst of giggles. It’s so typical a reaction of the reticent hill folks. Gentle persistence finally pays and a toothless granny voices wisdom: “Jo mahal banaate hain woh makaan mein rehtein hain (Those who build palaces stay in humble homes).”

The group nods in agreement and I notice the smiles turning solemn. “We all have a doru each and a few simple, self-woven shawls, but can’t afford more. The returns for our effort are miserable. There was a time when we wore only what we weaved. Now it is different,” she elaborates.

That is not the story of Kinnaur alone. It is the story of India. Craft is the second largest occupational segment in the country. And though it aids in supplementing insufficient agricultural income, for a large number, it is their only means of livelihood. Unfortunately, every year, a percentage of the population is forced to give up their traditional skills on account of being unable to sustain themselves with meagre earnings from craft.

Their talent gets wasted as lack of any other specialised knowledge, coupled with limited literacy, forces them to take up menial jobs, resulting in craftsmanship disappearing from the family. The reason craftspersons can often be heard woefully saying their children were not willing to carry forward the family trade.

Conventional haat vs urban market

Ours is a legacy rich in handmade ware. Generations of artisans have lovingly preserved and enhanced skills to produce some of the most exquisite handicraft. Every region of the country has a remarkable range of craft, and through the centuries, there has always been a ready market as well as encouragement for what the craftsman produced.

As industrialisation makes deeper inroads into India, it gradually replaces conventional handmade production. This translates into the loss of established markets for the artisan, who cannot compete with twin assaults — quick volume and lower price — offered by the mechanised sector. A craftsperson thus struggles to make both ends meet, and is finally forced to adopt ‘new skills’: penny-pinch by tinkering with size, using inferior raw material, essentially reducing quality. It’s against the grain, but survival demands so.
  
Though the artisan has lost a large traditional market share in the past few decades, new platforms have surfaced, in the form of periodic handicraft bazaars, lifestyle stores and  overseas festivals apart from the long-established state emporia, all targeting a new buyer: the urban consumer.

However, this new market is small and not enough for the handcraft sector to sustain itself. Though the government has sound policies on paper and many an endeavour has given desired results, it’s only a fraction of India’s craftspersons who have been helped.

Disconnect despite connect

“Middlemen and traders make a profit by going to the supplier with the lowest prices, and cut corners in quality. Honest or fair traders are not bad middlemen in most cases. However, craftspersons have still to get out of the mindset of being just makers/ artisans/ artists and see themselves as entrepreneurs who must assure timely deliveries, and even quality, apart from innovating and tuning into sophisticated markets that have purchasing power,” says Jaya Jaitly, founder-president, Dastkari Haat Samiti, an association of craftspersons across the country.

She has determinedly been working for the handcrafts sector and her initiatives have seen vanishing techniques receive a new lease of life. Among her key contributions is conceptualising Dilli Haat, and continuing to be actively involved with it, designing innovative state-wise craft-maps, and authoring several books on handicraft, the fairly-recent Crafts Atlas of India being a splendid documentation of India’s vast repertoire of crafts.

“Some lesser known heritage crafts are supported by being presented at events like the Surajkund Mela, but usually these are not produced in larger quantities, so their visibility becomes minimal. I have been trying to get the mindset to change the terminology from ‘languishing’ crafts, as the government calls them, to ‘heritage’ crafts, which has greater dignity. The government puts a lot of money into welfare or exports, both do not help in increasing domestic markets which I have always believed are our best bet,” she elaborates.

Indian handicrafts contribute significantly to the nation’s economy. In 2011-12, its export stood at Rs 12,975.25 crore, according to data available with the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts. Despite an enormous range, India’s contribution to the world share has been around 1.9 per cent. Surprisingly, smaller countries like Indonesia and Thailand boast of similar figures. The reason lies in marketing and quality control which aid both domestic and global markets.

“There is a complete disconnect between craft and market,” says Nandita Palchoudhuri, Kolkata-based independent folk arts curator. “The government has lopsided policies which affects the quality of craft being produced. Today, we have an astute customer who is bothered about what he is buying. Tell me, why will a dhokra artisan bother about quality when his work for emporiums is bought, shockingly so, by weight, and not per piece?”
Agrees C Lalthlenmawia, proprietor of Heritage Mizoram, Aizwal, an initiative to preserve traditional textile. “It’s NGOs across the country who have contributed significantly for the development and preservation of handcraft. But government support at all stages is crucial. We need policies that are drafted by persons who are passionate about craft. Only when the painstaking effort and diligence required for the creation of a handcrafted product is understood can a favourable strategy be introduced,” he says, adding, “As seen elsewhere, in the North-East too, Mizoram included, weavers are moving towards acrylic and rayon, and are tempted by powerloom. My endeavour has been to encourage them in pursuing traditional methods and making them value their skills. For this, I invest in raw materials and backstrap looms, apart from working out the patterns.”

Creating dialogue

While it’s true that unless fashioned to suit a contemporary milieu, most age-old crafts end up as ‘ethnic’ items to decorate living rooms, there is a need to ensure that inherited skills do not fade and the artisan can make a decent livelihood with his traditional understanding. “Today’s discerning consumer still appreciates handcraft and traditional techniques, but wants them contemporised to fit in with a 21st century aesthetic and lifestyle. Luckily, craft is endlessly versatile.

The challenge is to create a dialogue between craftspersons and consumers, and a harmonious balance between tradition and today’s market demand,” offers Laila Tyabji, chairperson, Dastkar, which, through its popular bazaars and exhibitions, has been presenting some of the best blends of conventional and contemporary Indian handcrafts.
Improving quality standards and innovation are both essential if the handicraft sector has to record progressive growth. Despite the talent, it’s not the artisan alone who can bring about the change. This needs collaboration between the artisan and an individual/ organisation driven by a passion to persevere as well as redefine tradition.

“Apart from our bazaars, we work with artisans in providing appropriate/ sympathetic design input. The Indian craftsperson is very skilled and, at times, it’s mere tweaking of a motif, or getting the size right, that makes all the difference in letting a product distinguish itself. We are focused on maintaining quality and it’s a constant challenge to achieve the benchmark we have set,” adds Santhya Malik, communications co-ordinator, Dastkar.

The shift from traditional to urban market has resulted in craft now largely being looked at more for purposes of decor and not utility, what it was originally meant for. “The purpose of craft is to serve a function,” avers Palchoudhuri.

“These days artisans are busy producing studio craft. It’s amusing to hear buyers pick up a craft item to match their bedroom curtain, and not for the loveliness of the craft itself. The job of a designer is to re-connect with the craft. For this, science and tradition need to combine. A classic case is re-patterning the matka (earth pitcher) to add a tap to its design for convenience. Both the potter and the buyer have benefitted with this,” she explains.

Nevertheless, do we have to give a contemporary makeover to all crafts for their survival? “Not in all cases. A rich wall piece of the Ramayana or Mahabharata in kalamkari or phad are great for art collectors, tycoons’ homes or for hotel lobbies. However, modifying the base material, layout, colours and subject matter can easily give the piece a contemporary twist which captures the traditional in a whole new way,” says Jaitly, adding, “In fact, crafts have always modified themselves to whatever was the demand at that period of time. That is how they have survived all along.” Palchoudhuri concurs with that thought.
“It’s great to put Warli art on a vase to popularise it. However, to recreate art in its original form by tweaking content is the real challenge. Creditable examples of this can be seen among gond and patachitra artists, whose works include traditional mythological episodes as well as those with current themes as terrorism, AIDS etc.”

Future continuous

Getting to learn about a craft and wanting to buy and use it are two different aspects: one cultural or educational, and the other being a part of an economic activity, which means sourcing the piece from one place to the other for sale.

The future of craft lies not in spreading everything wide — so a person in Manipur gets to know about the Aranmula mirror of Tamil Nadu and someone in the southern state learns about the Nungbi pottery of Manipur — but in finding the right slot (in marketing) for the right thing in the right numbers, covering all types of products and markets.

“It is also important not to forget the potter selling water pitchers on the pavement, or rope makers vending cord in mandis, and not just think of malls, emporia or organised NGO melas which are all part of the urban scene. What about the spinners and weavers in the khadi sector? All these have to be consolidated and assessed and assisted under one umbrella of hand work/ handcraft, and not divided into a ‘class’ system where the lowest are left out of the development process and buried under useless and unviable subsidies. To value our heritage and culture around crafts, I had proposed the idea of setting up a Hastkala Akademi to the government in the 12th Plan. This will add great value, both in terms of respect, awareness and economic gain, and add another dimension beyond mere marketing and welfare. The proposal has been accepted by the Planning Commission and funds set aside for a proposed private-public partnership model. I am looking forward to helping with the development of the idea and the institution,” concludes Jaitly.