Artisans and craftspeopleare an interesting social and

economic anomaly inmodern day India - a

country that prides itself onthe 'development' and

'innovativeness' of its

population. With aneconomy that leans more

and more in favour

technology and watches thestock market with bated

breath, it is no wonder thatcrafts are often overlooked.

The World Crafts Council

aims to preserve theseaspects of our heritage - notonly in India but in countries

all over the world facing asimilar march of progress.

By AnjaliAlappat

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CRAFTINGOUR FUTURE

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The silken skeins of a tightlywoven sari, the intricately carvedwooden idols, the delicatelywrought contours of a handmadetile: the potential for the craftsindustry in India is enormous.Several aspects of our nationalheritage have fallen by the waysidein our advance into the twenty firstcentury. With people ordering bedlinen from Italy, tiles fromMalaysia and in general turning theworld into a global marketplace,there is a very real fear that ourlocal artisans may soon becomeextinct, lost among the crowd offactory workers and franchiseshopkeepers. The Crafts Council ofIndia (CCI) has worked for decadesto carve a niche for the cottageindustry and to preserve much ofthe artistry that is handed downfrom generation to generation. Andthis year, in collaboration with theWorld Crafts Council (WCe)headed by its first Indian president,Mrs. Usha Krishna, CCI is waginga campaign to put crafts back onthe Indian cultural map.

Usha's involvement with local

arts is a long standing one. As acommittee member of the CCI for

35 years, she has had theopportunity to explore a great dealof the cultural and economic

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aspects of the field. She held thepost of vice-president of theorganization for 15 years and in2008, was elected the head oftheWCC at the General Assemblymeeting held in Hangzhou, China.

THE STARTING POINT

"I have always been interested incrafts because I was a dancer when

I was young and craft has alwaysbeen a passion with me. I lived inBangalore, post marriage I came toChennai; the first few years went insettling down and planning afamily. I was even a teacher atSishya School for a couple ofyears. Then I heard of thisworkshop that was going to beconducted on vegetable dyeprinting. I attended that afterbecoming a member of CCI. Thatwas the stepping stone and theneverything fell into place. 1becamea member and held exhibitions and

workshops and helped the councilwith a lot of other activities."

Usha's pride in the group isobvious, "When I became amember, the CCI had only sevento eight people in it. Now wehave about 270 members. From

a small seed, it has become abig organization."

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BEING ELECTEDTHE

PRESIDENTof a globalorganization is a notable honour."This is the first time that an

Indian president has beenchosen, though KamaladeviChattopadhyay was one of theco-founders of the WCC. I don't

know why we have never gottenan opportunity so far but anyway,it is better late than never! It is

good that India got a chance,"says Usha. "The last presidentwas from Chile in South America.

But we had the general assemblyin China. This year too Chinaoffered to play the hosts but Iinsisted that we must have it in

India, in Chennai. When you talk

about having it in India, everyone

keeps saying - why don't youhave it in Delhi? Which is true,

considering that the infrastructure

and the things that happen inDelhi are quite, quite different

from what you can get inChennai. But Chennai has so

much to offer as a cultural city

and eventually, I think, it should

develop into a big crafts centre."

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GOING GLOBAL"I was a member of the CCI

from 1976, so it has been nearly 35years," she muses nostalgically."Now I am involved with theWCC. The CCI is a member of the

WCe. It is divided into five regions- North America, Latin America,Africa, Europe and the Asia-Pacificregion. (India comes under theAsia-Pacific region.) WCC startedin 1964 in New York City. Earlier,every two years they used to havean AGM (general body meeting)and elect new people but now it isevery four years that we meet andelect a new president and then havea general assembly. Sometimes wehave something exciting happeningat the time; for instance, thisyear we have a convention withthe seminar and some

exciting workshops."

WCC EXPO IN CHENNAI

The crafts expo that will beheld in October promises to beinteresting with more than 40 stallsalready confirmed. "There will bestalls from all over the world,"she says. Ideally, Usha would likethe WCC Week to be held in

December annually. But for now,the city will play host toa plethora of artisans and theirrepresentatives, eager to share theirexpertise and assimilate new skills.

As part of her plan to elevate thecottage industry to its former glory,Usha and her team have introduced

'Kaivalam', an innovative newproject that encourages youngstersto combine film with crafts - usinga modem medium to capture theessence of the traditional mediums

that are fast becoming extinct. "Iam very keen on it, because it isone way of bringing the youth into

this. Everybody is into filmmakingand it has garnered a lot of interestnow and everybody loves to watchmovies. Anything that you 'see'goes into your mind much fasterand stays in your mind for a longerperiod than what you readanywhere. So I thought cinema isthe best medium and marryingcrafts, children and movies - it is a

good amalgam."

THE WORLDWIDEEXPERIENCE

"I have been travelling quite abit, especially in Africa. I went intoWest Africa - Burkina Faso, theIvory Coast, the areas where, Ithink, people are somewhat hesitantto go. I went to Ethiopia, Zambia,Zimbabwe, South Africa - I havedone a lot of globetrotting; it hasbeen fun and hard work also. It is

exciting and you are imbibingsomething everyday. It is a hugelearning curve basically."

Visiting Rwanda remains one ofher most special memories. "It issuch a fantastic country. Peoplethink that if you go to Rwanda, youwill only see endless miles ofdesert sand. Nothing could befarther from the truth. Rwanda was

absolutely green with hills andmeadows - and I thought it lookedlike Switzerland! I never realised it

was such a beautiful country; infact, the locals call it 'the countryof a thousand hills'."

Her experiences have bothinspired and intrigued her - fromenforced communal trash collection

and cleaning to the friendliness ofthe locals - it was an eye openingexperience for Usha: one that shelooks forward to sharing withrepresentatives of countries worldover at the annual meet in Chennai.

Photography: Abhay Kumar