E n a b l i n g A r t i s a n s

Objective

oThe purpose of this exercise is to give exposure to young potters the potential of pottery skills in the modern, globalised era and to equip them to take up the challenges and take forward the pottery skills as a viable livelihood option which gives them both monetary gains and pride. With shrinking employment opportunities in the organized sector, it is important to evolve entrepreneurial capabilities, so that viable income generating alternatives are explored through self-employment.

oThis exercise will also generate ideas to set up a ‘Artisan Enabling Centre’ which is urgently needed to help the traditional crafts people to understand and respond creatively to the changing market needs.
oEven though this activity is only catering to the young potters this will give more or less a general direction for all the other traditional crafts also.
oThe lager objective is to address how to make the artisanal activity sustainable and viable
oAnd how to equip the artisan communities to meet the chelleges of globalization .

oApart from all this, this exercise will generate about 500 new products. New avenues will be explored- life style products, Architecture related , eco tourism etc
oSince the potters children will be selected from different cultural locations this project will explore how to retain their cultural uniqueness in spite of designing similar products.

The project is for two years.


Plan of Action.


oSelection of 12 young Potters – 12th /gradudate/post graduate.

oTwo months of training to equip the student to observe, research, document and communicate the findings.
oSix months of research/ travel in order to comprehend the existing scenarios in craft production-successful ones, not so successful as well as where craft has died out. Existing market- urban, rural, road side, changes in design, technology, new ways of marketing, new client, customer preferences, psychology, new forms of organizations, new players, internet aided market etc
oOne month in analysis, discussions, looking for alternatives
oSix months of product development, market testing etc and in the course of doing this learn the fundamentals of design process, This period is to make the student understand materials, skills, technologies, consumer psychology, aesthetic sense, market, marketing methods and communication techniques and methods etc. {computer +web, design, Market Organisation, Accounts, Communication, Entrepreunal skills}.It covers everything related to making and selling of craft. The studenst will undertake production and also will exhibit their work in few metropolis in order to get a clear understanding how things sell or not sell.
oThree months to help them to specialize on some aspect of craft marketing.
o6 months Handholding- helping the students to take the learning back to the villages where they came from and to help them reorganize production, marketing etc.


Financial projection for the project


1 Personnel
Honorarium Director 30months x Rs 15,000 4,50,000
Administration /accounts Dept 30 months x Rs 5,000 1,50,000
Assistant/ field assitant 24 months X Rs 20,000 4,80,000
Honorarium to visiting faculty Rs 1000 x 40 days 40,000
1 Total 11,20,000

2 Materials and Equipments
Wheel 4 nos ( 2 manual& 2 electrical) 30,000
Kiln 2 - Testing and production 25,000
Tools 10,000
Lap top 1 50,000
Computers 12 nos @ Rs 25,000 per unit 3,00,000
Software 50,000
Digital camera 12 nos @ Rs 12,500 1,50,000
Scanner/printer etc One each 25,000
Stationery , Books (design & ref: ) 40,000
Clay & firewood 50,000
Furniture 75,000
2 Total 8,05,000

3 Training Expenses
Preparatory,expenses, Advertisement,Identification, survey,selection 30,000
Stipend @ Rs 50 per day 12 trainees x 18 months x Rs 1500 3,24,000
Market research stud 2,50,000
Exhibition 2 nos 2,00,000
3 Total 8,04,000

4 Traveling
Travel expenses (100 days) 1,00,000
Food & Stay 100days @ 300 x12 trainees 100days @ 600 x 2 4,80000
Institutional fees, meusam entry fees. 2500
Local conveyance Rs 1000 per Tata sumo per day for 70 days. 70,000
Visiting Faculty 50,000
4Total 7,02,500

5 Evaluation/Information Dissemination
Monitering expences Once in a month – 24 meeetings 24,000
Internal evaluation Once in 3 months – 8 meetings 16,000
External evaluation Once in a year - 2 nos 50,000
Documentation and dessimination. brochure, documentation, web site 1,50,000
5Total 2,40,000

6 General Administration/Overhead
Land 5 Acres 3,00,000
Office and Administration Block 15ft x 30ft 2,50,000
Work space 20ft x 50ft 1,00,000
Class room facilities 15ft x 30ft 2,50,000
Stay- Hostels and guest room 500 sq ft 3,00,000
Mess & Kitchen 300 sq ft 1,00,000
6Total 13,00,000


Grand Total 49,71,500

Concrete details of the program.

Selection of students

The students are to be selected from potters community. Some of the suggested clusters are – Nilambur, Kundapur, Bhagusala( Orissa), Nagarcoil, Mana Madurai, Delhi etc. Contact is being made to select the trainees.

Preparatory programme

Two months of training to equip the student to observe, research, document and communicate the findings. This period will be some what theoretical as well as practical as they will be given inputs in photography, document making etc.
This part of the training will happen at the temporary facility at Palghat.

Exposure trip

The purpose of this part of the program is to expose the trainees to the present situation of craft. In the villages there is a steady decline but in the urban context there is a revival of interest and hence new designs, new markets, new ways of marketing, changes in organization, support systems etc is coming up. The probable places to visit are Dilli haat, Uttam nagar potters colony, Dastakar, shops like Kamala, people tree, cottage industries, NID, IICD Jaipur, Kala raksha at Kutch, few shops in Banglore, Chennai etc, taking part in craft exhibitions to study the clientale, visiting eco tourism facilities etc. They will also visit baster and such production centres. Organisations like Dastakari Haat samity, URMUL, etc


One month for reflection, analysis, discussions, readings, silence, looking for alternatives etc


Product development
In this phase of six months duration the trainees will be involved in developing new products, producing them in their respective clusters and do market testing by holding few exhibitions.
The trainees will be carefully guided to ensure their aesthetic/ cultural identity. The key guiding principle for the training programme will be to preserve each child’s individuality and independence – pre-requisites to creativity, while at the same time providing inputs that sharpen their senses.
This period is to make the student understand materials, skills, technologies, consumer psychology, aesthetic sense, market, marketing methods and communication techniques and methods etc. {computer +web, design, Business Market Organisation, Accounts, Communication, Entreprenal skills}
It covers everything related to making and selling of craft. The studenst will undertake production and also will exhibit their work in few metropolis in order to get a clear understanding how things sell or not sell.

Three months again the trainees will be placed in an urban shop to give them exposure to language, ways of dealing with clients etc.

Production
6 months Handholding- helping the students to take the learning back to the villages where they came from and to help them reorganize production, marketing etc


Faculty – The trainees will need help in minimum English, Use of computer, emailing, basic image editing, basic design process, using of Camera, Marketing, Organizational skills, Entrepreneur skills, Accounting etc The selected faculty will either come to the place of work or in course of exposure visits their expertise will be utilized. It is hoped that at least some of them will volunteer to give their knowledge.
Background

Project director

I am a designer who has been working with rural tribal artisans for the past 15 years and has been studying various problems the artisan communities are facing. I did my graduation in mechanical engineering at MACT Bhopal and Post Graduation from NID, Ahmedabad
I have interacted with many artisan communities in Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Kerala and Tamilnadu, practicing various crafts like Pottery, Brass, Kantha Embroidery, Bamboo, Stone, Horn etc. While these interactions helped me distil myself in many ways, they also brought to light the umpteen hurdles that confront the artisans.
Certainly therefore, in my work with rural/tribal artisans I am careful to approach the intervention extremely carefully and sensitively. I hope this helps them to remain fastened to their culture, while consciously assisting them in regaining and maintaining their dignity, distinctiveness and self-hood.
Kumbham
Located in Aruvacode, a tiny hamlet near Nilambur in Malapuram District of Kerala, India, Kumbham has attracted some 80 odd potters to affiliate with it to varying degrees, since its beginnings in 1993. In a long and arduous voyage of discovery commencing then, the community as a whole has witnessed a dramatic turn-around: from being on the verge of dissolution as an impoverished artisan community to a resurgent group of potters whose craft was once again wanted. The kumbham iniative is being hailed as a rare instance of a traditional artisan community rehabilitating itself through the very craft they had been alienated from.
Today, Kumbham can rightfully claim to have facilitated a product range of over 500 designs, including kitchen and household ware; garden furniture and landscaping products and murals and architectural accessories.

More significant but also less visible to the outside world, is Kumbham’s contribution to the rehabilitation of an entire community of traditional crafts persons. Their growing confidence in their ability to design and produce saleable terra-cotta ware without recourse to ‘development consultants’ or ‘improved technologies’ is a measure of their heightened self-worth and in all probability a change that will outlast Kumbham itself. http://www.kumbham.in/

PRODUCTS
Right from the beginning we have been perusing the idea of contemporizing the traditional craft skills to meet the changing life styles of urban people. One of the most important contributions of kumbham is in developing products to meet the requirements of modern architecture.
From murals to adorn the walls and various products for interiors like mirror frames and different type of lamps and in landscaping water cascading, birdbath, urns etc
Product development and experimenting with new ideas is an ongoing process for KUMBHAM, by closely observing urban lifestyles, we are developing new product ideas and the latest being containers that could be used in microwave ovens.
Work Table Accessories, Pen stand, Name plate, Paper weight, Pin tray, Clock stand, Photo frame, Trays.
Kitchen and Table ware: Dinner set, Cutlery stand, Cooking vessels, Cooking vessels, Tava, Jars, Jugs, Pots, Mugs.
Architectural/house hold: Decorative tiles, Murals, Wall lamp, Letter box, Magazine holder, Framed mural, Coffee table, Architectural column, Soap dish, Tooth brush holder.
Landscaping: Bird’s nest, Garden lamps, Garden furniture, Pots, Bird bath, Decorative vessels, Water cascade, Columns, Path lamps, Mushroom lamps.


Jinan
http://my.opera.com/jinankb/blog/


(Annexure)

Craft situation In India

(Crafts as Sustainable Livelihood Option in Rural India
ANUBHA SOOD ,MSc Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries, September 2002)

Craftspeople form the second largest employment sector in India, second only to agriculture. Handicrafts are rightly described as the craft of the people: there are twenty-three million craftspeople in India today.

As a socio economic group, artisans are amongst the poorest. The unorganised and diverse nature of craft activities has prevented politicians and policy makers in India from understanding or formulating effective policies or strategies by which this segment of the population can be part of a general advancement (Jaitly, 2001).

The craft sector contains many paradoxes. Artisanal contribution to the economy and the export market increases every year and more and more new crafts-people are being introduced into the sector - especially women - as a solution to rural and urban unemployment. At the same time mass-produced goods are steadily replacing utility items of daily use made by craftspeople, destroying the livelihood of many, without the concomitant capacity to absorb them into industry. However, with ever-increasing competition from mill-made products and decreasing buying power of village communities due to prevailing economic conditions, artisans have lost their traditional rural markets and their position within the community.

There is a swing against small scale village industries and indigenous technologies in favour of macro industries and hi-tech mechanised production. Traditional rural marketing infrastructures are being edged out by multinational corporations, supported by sophisticated marketing and advertising. The change in consumer buying trends and the entry of various new, aggressively promoted factory produced commodities into the rural and urban market, has meant that craft producers need more support than ever if they are to become viable and competitive.

From lack of availability of raw materials to the lack of demand for their products, there is a pattern to the problems faced by the artisans. More insidious in nature are the problems springing from interventions that come in the guise of “helping” ‘them’ out. I view this as the uprooting of the rooted. Development is the mantra of the interventionist agencies and the only issue that they seem to comprehend is economics. Issues related to the culture ,lifestyle and ethos of artisan communities are not relevant to most of these agencies ,whether they be governmental or nongovernmental. The primary fallout of such an approach predictably, is injury to the confidence and self-esteem of the communities concerned.

There are number of reasons for the craft people’s current state: from the lack of capital to invest in raw materials to a scarcity of raw materials and their availability at reasonable rates; from the absence of direct marketing outlets to difficulty of access to urban areas that are now the main markets for craft products, from production problems to a lack of guidance in product design and development based on an understanding of the craft, the producer and the market - the constraints are many and varied.

Disappearing markets: Craft is basically a commercial activity. In order to make a living from craft production, the artisan needs to sell his/her products regularly, realise a viable income from each sale and be assured of regular sales in the future.

Crafts have been an integral part of village life in India. But production for home consumption is radically different from production for a commercial market. Given changing and competitive markets, getting the product right is often the key to the success or failure of a craft project. The traditional craft skill, however beautiful, needs sensitive adaptation, proper quality control, correct sizing and accurate costing, if it is going to win and keep a place in the market. In other words the right combination of human, financial, physical and social capital is essential. Jaitly (2001) reinforces that neither training, nor design and product development, nor easier access to credit and cheaper raw material can on their own sustain the craftsperson unless marketing avenues with the least number of intermediaries are available simultaneously sustainable livelihood.

There has been a dramatic shift in consumer choice from artisanal goods to factory made ones. For example, hand woven cotton fabrics have lost out to mill-made synthetic ones; plastic, china and glassware have wiped out the market for earthenware. (Bhasin and Kak, 1983 in Sruti, 1995: 23) emphasise that without successful marketing, all development programmes will ultimately fail. If there must be a public sector in handicrafts, the role envisioned is essentially as a patron of Indian craft people and handicrafts. The focus has often been on human capital and only on some aspects of financial capital in the form of loan and credit facilities with little attention for providing suitable infrastructure (physical capital) where the products could be marketed.

The craftsperson cannot imagine ever being able to advertise his/her product in the marketplace on his/her own. In the hugely competitive advertising and global trade scenario, viable support systems in this are an imperative. Offers made on websites by city-based agencies are beyond their grasp and active participation. The potential of e-commerce is still far from their reality- where they are still grappling without basic needs- such as electricity!

(Crafts as Sustainable Livelihood Option in Rural India
ANUBHA SOOD ,MSc Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries, September 2002)