Handicraft Department Samba hosts Workshop for local artisans
Participants learn about design and innovation, global market
Oct 01, 2022
SAMBA: Department of Handicrafts and Handloom, in collaboration with Pine ConeTM a brand by Folkloric (OPC) Private Limited, on Saturday conducted a workshop for the artisans/weavers of Samba district associated with Calico print, handloom and bamboo craft here in the Conference Hall of DC office.
Anuradha Gupta, Deputy Commissioner, Samba was Chief Guest on the occasion.
The objective of the workshop was to share knowledge with the artisans on design and innovation, skill upgradation, market trends and overview of global market and scope of handcrafted products specially the handloom and block printing industry and Bamboo craft, on online platforms/ marketplaces and thereby increasing the scope and reach of their products, and hence grow their income from the these crafts and to take the crafts of our state to a wider audience.
A detailed powerpoint presentation on design and skill up-gradation for the artisans dealing with Calico printing, Bamboo basketry and handloom was presented by Nitika Gupta, founder of Pine Cone, which was followed by a detailed one on one interaction of Pine Cone founder with the artisans, discussing new ideas and scope of these crafts. A day prior to Gandhi Jayanti, it was a perfect moment to give Samba's handloom the status it deserved and was long due. The artisans and weavers had also put up displays of their handcrafted and handloom products.
Also present on the occasion were, Chief Planning Officer, Sukhleen Kour; Deputy Director Planning Handloom/Handicraft Jammu, Megha Boagia and Assistant Director, Handicrafts/Handloom Samba, Niharika.
Later certificates were distributed among the newly registered cooperatives in handicrafts and handloom department samba. The session ended with the vote of thanks to the chair.
Having worked in the corporate sector for over 12 years in the field of design, product management and brand management across various industries such as Precious jewellery, Lifestyle products, Silverware products, Ceramics tiles and Watches, Nitika Gupta, quit her job and started Folkloric around 20 months back with the objective of reviving the lesser-known crafts of India and engaging the traditional artisans of these crafts." It is a bootstrapped start-up where we work directly with artisans in rural parts of Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu region and Manipur currently. I am proud to inform you that 90% of these artisans are women, and our endeavour is to bring more and more artisans of lesser known crafts of India under the umbrella of Pine Cone. "-Nitika, born and brought up in Jammu, pursued her Bachelor in Product Design from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat (NIFT, Gujarat) and post-graduation from Indian Institute of Management , Calcutta (IIMC).
"The handicrafts industry is a big market globally. Though the Indian consumer has lately adopted the Indian handcrafts whole heartedly.
With Covid19, the idea of a slow and sustainable life came into existence as people spent more time at home, and it reflected very quickly on their buying behaviour.
Indians are purchasing more consciously now with emphasis on who is making their products and in what conditions. They want to invest in good quality handmade products for their home and loved ones, and not in affordable mass produced similar looking goods. They connect and relate to brands with a story behind their existence.
The world is more connected now than ever, and the global trends and styles are adapted to in India simultaneously as the rest of the world.
We are seeing a wide acceptance and demand of more clean, minimalistic and simple designs with neutral colours across the country.
The whole Scandinavian Bohemian style which includes use of natural fibres, earthy tones, use of macrame` and very simple clean designs, is very prominent and well accepted in India now not just in homes, but also in restaurants and café interiors, event décors and the décor industry as a whole. People are also inclined towards crafts based gifts as they help them to connect with and support the rural industry and the artisans who make these products." added Nitika
