Podcasts
Uma V. Chandru Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, India.
This podcast is intended for educational use only.
The dual nature of crafts in India as manifestations of living cultural practices as well as tradable market goods or commodities has been a source of confusion and debate. This confusion has been reflected in policy and practice, with different crafts placed under different administrative structures and even ministries and also perceived and treated differently by the State, NGOs, Crafts Councils, design institutions, consumers and other patrons of craft. The States emphasis on greater internationalization of Indian crafts in the 1980s and the embracement of neoliberal economic strategies in 1991 has integrated the Indian crafts sector further into the global economy. Globalization has also brought vast changes in the perception, patronage, production, distribution and consumption (domestic as well as global) of several Indian crafts.
Viewed earlier as a 'dead weight' that must be subsidized and nurtured until it can be industrialized, the rapid growth in crafts exports have led the State to position the crafts sector as a 'key contributor' to India's economic growth, employment generation and poverty alleviation. A host of new actors including multilateral agencies, corporate style NGOs, policy makers, mainstream designers, architects, exporters and large retail corporations have begun to focus greater interest in the vast skilled and semi-skilled human resources as well as on the natural and cultural resources of hereditary/traditional craft communities in India.
This paper traces the shifts in the perceptions of traditional crafts in India and maps the transformations in State policy and in the interventions of the State, NGOs, designers and other actors in the crafts sector. It examines the implications of two recent UN conventions for traditional craftspeople in India. It highlights the debates and the concerns of craftspeople and other stakeholders on the future of craft and the intangible cultural heritage of traditional craftspeople.
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L'auteure explique la reconnaissance et les changements importants récement accordés à l'industrie artisanale indien par le gouvernement de ce pays, ainsi aque par divers organismes internationaux.