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Magazine
Crafting a way of life
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Export figures for Indian handicrafts are rising but craftspersons are at the crossroads, beset with poverty and illness. Their knowledge is in danger of dying with them. PUSHPA CHARI recounts what the 10 mastercraftspersons, honoured with the award of Shilpa Guru recently, had to say.
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Ganapathi Sthapati's work ... what of the future?
"If we do not listen to the voice of craftspersons, soon there will be no craftsperson left to talk to... ."
LAILA TYABJI'S statement at the New Delhi seminar held in November to mark the "Golden Jubilee Celebration of Handicrafts Resurgence in India" is perhaps the most telling indictment of the policy of both the Government and private enterprise over the past 50 years — putting handicrafts centre stage as a commodity and largely ignoring the craftsperson, who has created not mere objects and artefacts of great beauty but expressed a way of life through creativity. In the years after Independence, the growth of the handicrafts and handloom sector was nothing short of miraculous, reflecting the government's policy to develop a consistent programme for the traditional sector as well as the vision of Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay who travelled through the country to locate craft centres and assess their needs.
Major steps were taken in craft revival, development, production and marketing through the setting up of Regional and State Design Centres, Regional Emporiums and the Central Cottage Industries Association. In 1963, the annual National Awards for Excellence in crafts was instituted. Languishing crafts such as block printing, Kalamkari, filigree work, temple jewellery were revived and restored with tremendous design inputs and product development. Soaring export figures testified to the resurgence of handicrafts and handlooms in the post-independence era and handicrafts now generate Rs. 9,000 crores annually.
On November 15, last year, the President honoured 10 outstanding mastercraftspersons with the award of "Shilpa Guru", repositories of traditional skill and knowledge. The Shilpa Gurus, who also embody the UNESCO concept of "Living National Treasures", are Padmashri Kirpal Singh Shekhawat for Blue Pottery, C. Parameshwaracharya for wood carving and sculpture, V. Ganapathi Sthapathi for traditional stone sculpture, Jivya Soma Mashe for Warli art, J. Gurappa Chetty for Kalamkari, Sonabai Rajwar for painted and raised clay work, Nawang Tsering for traditional Buddhist sculpture, Vinayak Salvi for Patola weaving, Jaidev Baghel for metal casting and Jagadish Lal Raj Soni for Thewa. Their masterpieces, created especially for the occasion, were mounted in a special exhibition along with representative works of their outstanding shishyas.
But when the function was over and the sound of accolades faded, how did the Shilpa Gurus view the coveted honour? At a three-day seminar on the "Status of Mastercraftsmen and Sustainable Development" jointly organised by Crafts Council of India, Delhi Crafts Council and the Office of Development Commissioner Handicrafts, to coincide with the creation of the Shilpa Guru award, their voices were heard. And the various players in the field listened — from policy makers to entrepreneurs, NGO's and activists who were attending the seminar.
Said Gurappa Chetty: "You want to write about us, select awards and create craft committees. But you must realise that the knowledge ultimately lies with us. People learn from us but do not give us a chance to come up."
And C. Parameshwaracharya, whose lineage goes back to Chola times in unbroken continuity, said: "I have many awards in my name but continue to work on the footpath."
"Should I forget this award as well?", asked Kirpal Singh Shekhawat, and Bulzar, a young flute maker from Uttar Pradesh, added: "When we take these awards to emporiums, they tell us they are worthless pieces of paper... " Vinayak Salvi said that his lungs had been affected by the chemical dyes and, at 55, he did not know how he would continue.
Many mastercraftsmen honoured with National Awards in the past now live in abject poverty, said craft activist Haku Shah, like mastercraftsman Trikamal Gajjar, a wood block maker who is now nearly blind and has no savings to his credit. They talked about not getting enough acknowledgement and respect for their work and also emphasised that craft was not just economics-driven but intricately linked to everyday life. Other demands included proper implementation of government schemes, more marketing help, medical insurance, special identification cards and the setting up of a Shilpa Kala Academy.
Speaking at the Seminar, Tinoo Joshi, Director, Handicrafts, while sympathising with the mastercraftsman's viewpoint said that a lone craftsperson had no commercial viability and that organisations of craftsmen like self-help cluster groups would be given financial help with special emphasis on technology, quality of raw materials and final finish. Over the three days, the participants who included Laila Tyabji of Dastkar, Judy Frater of Kutch-based Kalaraksha, crafts activists like Haku Shah, Rajeev Sethi and Jaya Jaitley, Malaysian designer Edric Ong, Filipino scholar David Barabas, designer Ritu Kumar and others discussed future direction of craft with the creator craftsman playing a pivotal role.
Sessions ranged from the role of voluntary organisations in the promotion of craft to looking at the need for local museums for craftsperson communities, the relationship between craftsmen and designers and the need for entrepreneurial education for craftspersons, and finally, the future of the next generation of craftsmen.
The general consensus was that: we must work with and not for the craftspersons, government and craftspeople must work as equal partners and designers must share the perception of the craftsman.
Also, as Edric Ong put it: "The designer must exploit the craft and not the craftspersons... " Examples of craft development in other Asian countries and lessons learnt from them to suit the Indian context were cited and all agreed that the sector needed to find a more unified and audible voice, in charting their future growth.
Said Dr. David Barabas: "I see the confusion arising from the failure to distinguish between two modes of approach to craft — one of viewing it as a commodity and thereby focussing on marketing, product design, extent of commercialisation etc, and the other of looking at craft as a cultural symbol and emphasising the world view, the preservation of the context and values of the past... "
Perhaps the most poignant moment of the Seminar was in art historian Dr. B. N. Goswami's words: "Look closely at the central motif being used in the seminar — a 14th Century, Vijayanagar sculpture, the Tree of Knowledge "
As the delegates pored over the image, he asked gently if we could hold on to the balance of the tree and said: "We must find the balance between integrity of the craftsmen and the commercial viability of their products." Hopefully, the Seminar has, in some way, initiated that process better than in the past.
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