For The Love Of Handloom

The feel of handwoven fabric. The texture. The weft and the warp. The intricacy of design. The symmetry and also the idiosyncrasies of made-by-hand. The centuries old craft traditions that are reverently passed on from one generation of artisans to the next. The story behind each gorgeous yard of a sari.  The wonder at the skill, the passion & the sheer hard work that goes in to create something so beautiful. 

Oh, the love for hand woven Indian textiles - you and I, we know what that feels like!

And because we love our textiles so much, we need to do what we can to save them. 

The What

You might or might not have yet heard about the powerful emerging lobby in India that wants to repeal the Handloom Reservation Act, that has been in place since 1985 to protect traditional handloom weaves and the interests of marginalized weavers. This influential lobby is in favor of bringing in power looms which will flood the market with cheap, low quality, machine made replicas of textiles (especially saris) and take away the livelihood of thousands of weavers and their families. And of course, if this does happen, the loss of invaluable textile traditions, skill and knowledge will be inevitable and irreversible.

What You Can Do

We need to lobby against the repeal of The Handloom Act. Dastkar has started an online petition and we need to sign it and share it with as many like minded people as we can. For now, this is what we must do and support the weavers. 

Please do pause, and sign the petition right now. It takes less than 10 seconds. And you are very welcome to take more time and also share your views and opinions on the petition if you like.

For more information, you can take a look at The Handloom Act and read this, and this, very well written articles.

You and I
We will help preserve & protect what we love

A request to all An Indian Summer readers
From India and everywhere else
Anyone who has been inspired by the beauty of handwoven textiles 
Do Sign the petition
And share this post far and wide


I will see you again in a couple of days. Be good, my munchkins!


[Image credits mentioned on images. Creative storyboarding: An Indian Summer]

The Gleam Of Coppre

Ah! the little joys of life. One of them being when your perennial favorite brand launches a new collection. And along with the new collection, they launch a brand new web store. You think that's all the joy you could handle in a day, but wait, there's more. To add to the festive cheer, they also offer a fabulous discount to you and to your splendid readers. Well, I am extremely overjoyed. To put it mildly. It's taking all my poise and restrain to not inundate this paragraph with happy exclamation marks and add in twinkling stars and chirpy birds and fluffy kittens while I am at it. 

Read on to know all about my top-of-the-lust-list brand - Coppre, and the passion with which Coppre's team is reviving and making relevant the old age tradition and skill of metal crafting. Not only will you fall in love with Coppre's beautifully hand crafted products, but I will also share the discount code that you can use to bring these goodies into your home, at the click of a button.

 

Coppre reflects the legacy of metal craftspeople. Having a fascination of objects from yesteryear and the brilliant craftsmanship of these objects, the Coppre team collaborates with metal craftsmen and women from the Tambat region of Pune, India, to evolve a contemporary range of copper products that cater to the present while retaining intact, the heritage craft process. Coppre brings dignity and efficiency to this ancient craft by linking talented designers to the metal craft families of Tambat and presenting their craft to the world in the best ways possible.

Coppre strives constantly to widen their product base and support as many talented crafts families as they can. Their latest 2014 collection is yet another beautiful line of products that are festive, aesthetic in their appeal and yet utilitarian. With this expanded range, the designers and the metal craftsmen have created a range of uber cool copper products and leveraged the versatile metal to it's full capacity.

Owning or gifting a product from Coppre is like owing and sharing a piece of heritage. As the product gets older, it develops the beautiful patina and sheen that is so coveted by vintage  and antique connoisseurs.   

With the festive season hitting us with full force, Coppre's new online shop is a blessing! As you shop, make sure to use AIS10 to get a discount of 10% on your purchases till Oct 16th. I have made my list of what I am going to pick up; let me know what tempts you the most :) 

Connect with Coppre on Facebook

Follow them on Twitter

And shop right here!

[All images: Coppre. Creative Storyboarding: An Indian Summer]

From the Jaipur Art Festival

Artists, canvases and colors

Spring, sunshine and bonhomie

Art lovers, collectors and casual strollers

Art, sculptures and craft

All found at

The Jaipur Art Festival

The last day is tomorrow- March 25th!

Visit Diggi Palace if you are in Jaipur

Or 

Browse through the many pictures that I took at the festival, on facebook

 

And buy the available art work at Craftisan.in, the exclusive digital partners for the festival.

[All images: Me/An Indian Summer. Please credit and link back to this post if you use/share any]

Jaipur Art Festival

Is on!

From March 19th till 25th

At Diggi Palace, Jaipur

And I am here
In Jaipur

Today and tomorrow

To bring you the scoop

From the pen and the lens of 

An Indian Summer!

Stay tuned!

[Craftisan.in is the exclusive digital partner for Jaipur Art Festival. Find them on An Indian Summer, and On Facebook]

Roads Well Traveled

Wanderlust, travel, roads, bazaar, unique finds, indigenous crafts, beautiful objects, preservation of craft traditions - all these descriptive phrases, make a recurrent appearance on my blog. And anytime that I find another person, a group, a store, or a project sharing my passion for above, I can not wait to share my delight with you. RoadsWellTraveled, conceptualized and run by Minu Chawla and Sebastin Sager, is one such store that offers not just hand picked products, but also invites you to explore and discover little nooks and corners of the world. An online destination for the nomadic-at-heart connoisseur of world culture, artefacts and objects, RoadsWellTraveled takes pride not just in it's curated collection but also in the mission of doing its bit to preserve dying art and craft in different parts of the world.

Another interesting aspect of of RoadsWellTraveled is their emphasis on art and not just the artisan. As Minu described in her email to me:

"There are enough NGOs and fair-trade organizations trying to provide the artisans with a sustainable livelihood. However not enough encourage them to do so by practicing the craft that they learnt from the forefathers. In the quest of making more functional, more marketable products, the original art/craft practice is rapidly dying. Through RoadsWellTraveled, we hope to honour the artisan traditions in their truest forms."

The Museum is an integral and growing section of RoadsWellTraveled website, and this is the place where Minu and Sebastin document the history, tradition and stories behind the crafts they curate. The aim is to build awareness and preserve that what is original.

 

Both Minu and Sebastin come from a corporate background, and they gave up their jobs to follow their heart. Combining their love for travel, indigenous crafts and entrepreneurship, they founded RoadsWellTraveled in Berlin, a city that's home to both of them.   

Step into the world of RoadsWellTraveled, and shop the bazaars Mesoamerica, Indus, Kalinga and Ceylon. They have exciting travel plans, and I can't wait to see what new treasures they find in the bylanes of the world.

Connect with RoadsWellTraveled on facebook and get inspired by their beautiful boards on Pinterest.

[All images: RoadsWellTraveled. Creative Storyboarding: An Indian Summer]

All that is beautiful and original

With Craftisan

When I first saw Craftisan, I was drawn in by their collection of beautiful textiles and crafts from different regions of India. I was happy to see that they are not only bringing one-of-its kind products from established craft NGOs like Dastkari Haat Samiti, The Rehwa Society, Kilmora to name a few, but also helping eliminate the middleman, and providing a platform for e-commerce to the craftspeople directly. Hearing the team behind Craftisan talk about their passion and the vision with which they have started this online venture, I knew that I had to share Craftisan with you! 

Craftisan recognizes and celebrates the existential philosophy behind crafts. It acknowledges the need for beauty and creativity that urges human society to create, and also recognizes the value of the act of creating craft as an utilitarian task, that reflects the way and means of a particular region, society or a certain social environment. Craft is utility, decoration, ornamentation, meditation and aesthetics all rolled into a single product. 

Craftisan aims to offer an ethical architecture for India's creative manufacturing sector and be a curated art and craft collective for connoisseurs of original, hand crafted products. Replicating a traditional 'haat' (marketplace) online, Craftisan will bring to us handpicked products straight from individual craftspeople, various craft clusters and also craft ngos. Having a positive impact on the livelihoods of craft communities, as well as supporting preservation and promotion of dying crafts are Craftisan's driving values. 

 

Apart from the lovely products on show on Craftisan's site, do not miss the specially commissioned and curated exhibition and sale by Dastkari Haat Samiti, called Akshara. Akshara (crafting Indian scripts) encompasses the attempt to combine literacy, artistic sensibilities and marketable museum quality crafts so that the craftspeople value education as a necessary part for their economic and social uplift. The initiative has produced some beautiful works of art - on textiles, pottery, wood, paper and metal. Craftisan plans to bring more such specially created collections in the coming months.

Buy from Craftisan right here. Register on the site and instantly get credit worth INR 1000/$20!
Remain updated with their latest offerings by connecting on facebook.

  Happy Shopping, folks!
Have a great weekend
I'll see you all next week!

[All images: Craftisan. Creative Storyboarding: An Indian Summer]

Gaatha, a tale.

Gaatha, a sanskrit word meaning 'a great story' or 'a legend', is an initiative launched in 2009 by group of students and alumni at National Institute of Design [NID]. What started as a project to research and document the unfortunate erosion of Indian crafts clusters and heritage, has now evolved into a online repository of stories, folklore and myths associated with these crafts and their creators. Gatha has also launched an online store, aimed at helping these craftsmen reach a wider market and earn sustenance. 

Gaatha's blog is a lovely read, where the reader not only gets to know how each of these beautiful products is created, but we also get to 'meet' the skilled women and men behind the various crafts. 

Beautifully photographed, the products are a visual delight! Gaatha's online store is filled with handcrafted unique pieces for personal use and for home.

Visit Gaatha's online shop here, and immerse yourself in the enriching tales of craft, right here.

How have you been, my dear readers?

I am back after a break for Diwali and post Diwali recuperation

See you this friday, with a lovely giveaway!

[All images: Gaatha. Creative Storyboarding: An Indian Summer]

Pure Ghee Designs

One fine day, I stumbled upon Aditi Prakash's blog/design studio, and spent a good part of the morning going through this super talented designer's vast repertoire of projects. From creating bags in beautiful fabrics, to designing painted furniture to helping design interior details - she has her hands full! The project that impressed me the most was the work that Aditi did for Samode Lodge. She worked with arts and crafts from different parts of India, and translated them beautifully into contemporary interior objects. Have a dekko at her work, and read through her inspiration, in her own words..

Key chains from fabric remnants, Birds using Gond art and patchwork pouches 

Pure Ghee Designs is a research, design and production studio working mainly with traditional crafts. It is named so after a crafts person who brought back a gift of home made ghee (clarified butter) from his village for Aditi. It was the only thing he could think of that was pure, home made and precious. It stands for all things Indian and it appeals equally to urban and rural sensibilities.

Burnt wood birdies and tribal candle stands in metal

 Different art forms on the walls of Samode Lodge. From Gond paintings to mud relief

Leather puppets from Andhra on the walls

Aditi has lived and worked in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Delhi - cities that have a rich history and synergetic culture. She loves things hand made and is constantly exploring ways to make space for crafts in our modern lives. She believes in creating products with a soul, products that are powerful antidotes to the big hollow brands of commerce.

Sketches for a fabric wall art in kalamkari

As a child she loved making things and working with her hands. She studied fine arts - sculpture and then specialized in furniture design at NID. She then worked for various NGOs and private organization in the crafts sector giving her the opportunity to explore the length and breadth of the country. She has also curated Indian crafts exhibitions for events in London, Frankfurt and Sri Lanka and was shortlisted for the Young Creative Entrepreneur award last year.

Beautiful and unique metal figurines

Textiles galore!

Gond paintings on the walls

Wood carving from Kalahasti

One of the primary product in Pure Ghee Designs range is the limited edition bag made from traditional textiles. During her travels Aditi was fascinated with the sheer variety and beauty of traditional Indian Textiles. The bags are a celebration of the Indian design aesthetic whether it is fabric from fourth and fifth generation crafts people in Bhuj or kitschy lungis from streets of Hyderabad and Cochin. Every bag has a story to tell. Pure Ghee bags focuses as much about finishing, detailing and quality as they do about aesthetics.

How gorgeous are these bags! I am in love with the indigo one!

Phew! Didn't I say she is one talented designer!?

See more of her work here

And you can reach her at this email

[All images Aditi Prakash]