Save The Craft

 

THE “SAVE THE CRAFT” PROJECT

Craft is synonymous to India’s culture and heritage. But, it’s safe to say that a lot of our crafts are dying. In the lure of new, cheap, “contemporary” designs, Indian craft is often forgotten. Machine - made, mass - produced products seem to have overtaken handcrafted products. 

Most artisans and craftsmen cannot rely solely on these skills to support themselves. You will find them to have double jobs to feed their families. Despite the intensive & intricate skill involved, the artisans aren’t always paid appropriately,  which leads to cheap, distress selling due to lack of demand and awareness. This not only affects the quality of the final good, but also affects their physical and mental health.

Another issue is middlemen. Often taking the biggest share after a product’s sale, little money is paid to the artisans, who usually accept their fate, having negligible business knowledge and experience. 

 WHAT WE DID

We needed to keep the crafts alive. In a way to revive them, we are working on transforming Indian craftsmen into entrepreneurs. This not only keeps the “cycle of work” alive, but also encourages Fair Trade - an extremely important practice to prevent exploitation of our craftsmen. 

Through this, we aim to:

• Conserve indigenous knowledge and skills 

• Promote Fair Trade and ethical business so as to prevent exploitation and improve the general standard of living of our craftsmen.

• Accelerate the growth of crafts-based businesses through market promotion and welfare support

• Promote the importance of arts and craft, subsequently increasing market demand for these products. 

• Promoting an inclusive, fair and equal representation to all local artisans and craft clusters. 

• Connect the consumer to the craftsmen, thereby creating a personal touch so the consumer knows exactly #WhoMadeMyClothes

• Introduce technology to speed up the business process

Extremely talented artisans remain out of our sight. Our respect towards their hard work needs to be paid consistently and in action. After all, they make up our culture, don't they?