Education for Revival

This article has been inspired by the thought-provoking and well researched essay titled 'Coming out of the Shadow...' by Ritu Sethi (Chairperson, Craft Revival Trust). The essay talks about the imminent need for 'deconstructing and codifying traditional indigenous knowledge of craft practice into mainstream education'.

The purpose of this short note is to add to the above article and suggest a possible solution framework with the liberty of a dreamer. Though a Craft enthusiast associated with Indian handicrafts for over a couple of years and an ardent admirer of beautiful handmade products, I have not had the chance to work closely with any craftsman, to watch how (s)he transforms ordinary materials to icons of beauty. This makes me an 'outsider', one who may be ill-equipped to comment on such complex issues. The ignorance of the complexities associated with the craftsmen lives and the challenges of implementing artisan development programs may make this hypothesis weak; however I shall be bold enough to present this for criticism.

The proposed framework has several elements that need to work together and complement each other's functions.
1. Mandated high school education in all crafts villages
All crafts villages or clusters of them should be provided with - if not already present - schools equipped to teach until the 12th grade. From middle or high school level, these schools should dedicate a part of their time for formally providing craft education by the local master craftsman. This provision for craft education within the formal school infrastructure might add more legitimacy to the process and encourage the young to embrace their traditional skills with more passion. The knowledge gained through the regular education, the ability to read/write and connect to the rest of the world through the use of latest technologies, will empower these young craftsmen to nurture their craft in the backdrop of changing economic and cultural demands.
The chief issues, as suggested by Ms. Ritu Sethi in her paper - the lack of access to information for these craftsmen and their exemption from economic growth - might be partly addressed by this provision.

2. State of the Art Centres for 'Craft Degrees' and Research
Like the esteemed 'Kalakshetras', 'Kalamandalams' and Schools of Music, we need to have well equipped state of the art centres for imparting a formal graduate course in Arts and Crafts culminating in the award of a 'Bachelor of Arts in (Traditional) Craft Design' degree . The centres should have prominent artists, designers and the social workers/guides from the craft community as the mentors. Traditional craftsmen should be part of their teaching faculty along with professors from the mainstream Design and Fashion institutes.

These centres should be provided with Research departments that can concentrate on studying, documenting and providing scientific legitimisation for traditional crafts. Their study should pave the way for modernizing the traditional techniques and evolving them for modern challenges and needs.

Another option maybe to coach and guide the bright students from the rural crafts community to continue their education in the established centres for design - NID, NIFT etc. These centres could probably be encouraged to allot part of their reserved quota for the traditional craftsmen community in courses pertaining to crafts and accessory design. This kind of formalisation of Traditional Crafts as a viable career path with job opportunities in the academic field and industry should encourage rural artisan communities to keep their priceless tradition alive. On the other hand, it should also encourage passionate students from the urban areas to embrace our rich tradition and keep it alive in the modern context.

3. Industry intervention and guidance for Craft Research centres
The success of degrees specialising in Craft and the research centres lies in their ability to work closely with the industry and global trends. Having experienced artists, designers and experts from the Craft field as mentors, visiting faculty and academic reviewers would help in this context. Experts from the academic field - experienced professors from institutes like NID and NIFT - must be brought in to establish such centres and give them the necessary focus and direction.

Kaira

As a start, we probably need to identify and adopt couple of rural crafts communities. We should first encourage few of their young craftsmen to complete their school education and later coach and equip them to continue a formal course in crafts design. It would be interesting and informative to watch and assess how education, access to information and awareness of global economic trends will enable these young artists to think and create in a new space...It is not going to be an easy path, but if we are committed enough to observe the results and correct our course where required, we would soon hit the path of change - a change towards revival of indian crafts and craftsmen.