Is there a place for crafts in modern world? The answer to this question can be found in the streets of India where crafts are an intrinsic part of the everyday lives of the people.
The creative spirit of the Indian craftsman has its roots in a wide cultural spectrum. With every conquest of this land came new design vocabularies and techniques. With mughal rule, for instance, came the inlay work that today sustains an entire community. Never resorting to limitation, the Indian craftsman absorbed new elements from his environment, restating them into a vernacular idiom.
With industrialization came economies of scale. Lack of patronage and an unviable market led time consuming crafts to stagnate. Then, with the advent of the Independence movement, handicrafts were given a new lease of life. Mahatma Gandhi prevented the total eclipse of handwoven cloth by turning it into a symbol of freedom and self-reliance. Today, with the continuing efforts of numerous governmental and voluntary agencies, the whirr of the weaver’s shuttle and the tap of the metalsmith’s hammer can be heard once again, a reminder that the beauty of Indian handicrafts lies as lies as much in concept as in physical appearance.
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May 26th, 2010 at 11:27 am
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