Vibrant block prints on hand-woven fabrics, intricate mirror work on women’s skirts, evocative embroidery on handbags, and painstaking hand-embellishments on leather belts -- all of these reflect the rich heritage of craft in Kutch. Craft plays a central role in the customs of most of Kutch’s communities. At a young age, young girls, along side their mothers, begin to prepare their wedding trousseau by hand embroidering an exquisite collection of blouses and bags as well as patching together colorful pieces of old fabric in beautiful quilts. The women work diligently up until the time of the girl’s marriage because this collection is considered the bride’s personal security and wealth, which she carries with her to her new home. Furthermore, craft is also a bridge between castes and religions. Muslim weavers create the vibrant mashru fabric, which is often bought by Hindu women.
While markets throughout India exhibit the arts of Kutch prominently, many artisans have lost control over the creative process and earning potential because of over-commercialization. After the earthquake in 2001, observing this decline and recognizing the latent power that craft has to drive the Kutch economy, Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan (KNNA), the Nehru Foundation for Development (NFD) and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) established Khamir. Khamir, which means “pride” in Kutchi, is an artisan-focused Craft Resource Centre (CRC) designed to promote and develop local craftsmen’s knowledge and skills.
Through the CRC, KHAMIR encourages creative processes and provides direct access to markets. In addition to hosting education and training in the arts, KHAMIR promotes basic business practices through a number of initiatives. For example, CRC provides small grants to artisans, including those that have not plied their trade, so that they can buy necessary tools such as handlooms to re-engage with their craft. CRC also sponsors workshops by master artisans on quality and profitability. All these initiatives aim to achieve KHAMIR’s mission: to enable artisan livelihoods to become sustainable and employment-generating rural enterprises.
Need for Project:
Crafts have been one of the mainstays of the Kutch economy. After the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, there have been numerous initiatives to support and sustain these crafts and the artisans associated with them. The government has also installed various support structures for these artisans. However, most artisans in Kutch are home-based and are not organized into larger collectives. Thus, navigating the government bureaucracy can be challenging.
Acknowledging this gap, KHAMIR strives to connect artisans to relevant government schemes, and develop new applications within KHAMIR, to improve the stability of their livelihood and their quality of life.
As an August 2010 Indicorps Fellow, you will create an information and support center (“information center”) to assist artisans in applying for government schemes that support their artisan-based livelihoods.
You will first want to learn what government programs are available to artisans. Many government programs have specific timelines and requirements; you will need to learn to navigate these requirements and build relations with the program offices. You should concurrently spend time with the artisans in the KHAMIR community to learn more about their needs and challenges. What sort of information regarding government schemes do artisans wish they had? Which programs in particular could be useful to them in supporting their craft and their families?
After better understanding the needs of your community, you will be able to identify the gaps between the programs, the government offers and how the community uses them. From this information, you will want to develop an information center through KHAMIR to bridge that gap. The information center should facilitate approachability and access to relevant government programs. You can host workshops where artisans can learn more about a scheme and meet other artisans who currently benefit from it. In some cases, you may assist artisans to navigate the bureaucracy and apply for schemes. Not only will this give you a more honest appraisal of how these schema work, it will allow you to target a few tricky cases to bring them to a successful conclusion. Simultaneously, you will assist KHAMIR in designing new programs to meet the support and social security needs of the artisans. You may want to explore other organizations that have created internal support networks for local artisans. These new programs might require some hand-holding in the initial stages.
Finally, you will want to keep careful notes of your contacts, your ideas, and your projects so that others can expand upon your work in the future. This center should continue beyond you, so developing sustainable mechanisms (i.e., perhaps those that receive a scheme could then be asked to support others in their applications) will be key to your project’s success.
Target Community:
The community includes weavers, blockprinters, tie-dyers, wood workers, metal workers, lacquer workers, and potters throughout Kutch. Initially, you may focus on the 300 artisans closely linked to KHAMIR. Specifically, you will focus on the small and medium artisan groups that earn USD 1000 to 4000 a year.
Objectives:
• To understand the credit and informational needs of Kutch artisans
• To facilitate approachability and artisan access to relevant government schemes
• To develop a vibrant information/support center based at KHAMIR for artisans to access the various schemes, livelihood supports, and capacity building measures available through the government and KHAMIR
Challenges:
• Coordinating with various governmental and non-governmental bodies
• Managing a wide range of artisan needs spread over a wide geographical area
• Ensuring the sustainability of the center after your departure
Team-Based Model:
Each project is designed as a three-way partnership between you, Indicorps, and a partner organization. Each grassroots partner organization – in this case the duo of organizations – KNNA-Setu and KHAMIR – will be hosting 3 Fellows. Consequently, the August 2010 Fellowship will have both an individual and a team component.
As a team of Indicorps Fellows, your focus is to make traditional crafts and farming practices of Kutch profitable and sustainable in today’s globalizing environment. Team members will focus on different areas including integrating traditional farming methods with modern knowledge, supporting growing, spinning and weaving of organic cotton and creating a support network for artisans to help improve their living standards.
You will stay in a combination of home stays and at KHAMIR’s Craft Resource Centre campus. Simple vegetarian food will be provided. You will be expected to do your own laundry and chores and help with team responsibilities. Internet and STD/ISD facilities are available in the nearby town of Bhuj. Bhuj is connected to the city of Ahmedabad by bus and train. Ahmedabad is well connected to all major cities in the country by the road and railway network.
The language spoken at KHAMIR is Gujarati, and the local dialect is Kutchi. For this project, a basic knowledge of Gujarati is required. If you do not have basic knowledge of Gujarati, you can still apply if commit to learning the language before the start of your Fellowship year.
What makes you a strong candidate for this project? Please elaborate on experiences that would be particularly relevant.
2.
For this project, what would be a starting point for assessing the needs of your community? How will you build resources to suit their needs?
3.
Describe a time when you had to convince people to do something for which they could not see the immediate benefits. What personal characteristics enabled you to succeed in this situation?
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