NEW DELHI: Craft Village and GMR India has come together to organise world’s fourth and India’s 1st official craft week after London, Sydney & China is going to begin from 1–5 December 2018 at GMR Aerocity, New Delhi.
The global craft & folk tradition is disappearing fast, and ‘Handmade’ has taken a back seat in rapidly changing world, posing great danger to crafting tradition across the world. The diminishing demand for Craft products is attributed to “Good stories untold”.
These world crafts may have originated at different places, times or by different dynasty but they all look alike as if they belong to one culture, one tradition & one world. It is the spirit of people, and endless passion of craftsperson and artisan that created a meaning to world around us, be it objects, spaces or experiences. India Craft Week (ICW) is an endeavour for “One World, One Craft”, that transcends beyond boundaries to one destination New Delhi to bring timeless tradition.
India Craft Week is to help build aspirational quotient to Craft Forms, by bringing communities who value them. ICW would also help build new imagery of Crafts as Ethical, Sustainable and Slow. The efforts are to balances Tradition with Modernity.
The week showcases Crafting Trends from finest Artisans, Craft-preneurs, Designers, Brands, International Crafts Awardees, Exhibition by Award Winning Craftsperson, Trend Shows by craft dynasty, Live Demonstrations by Padma Shri /National Award Winners, Tributes to the legends of Crafts Sector, Gallery/Stalls by International Award Winners, Luxury Brands & Craft-Preneurs, Cross-Talk & Knowledge Seminars by Industry leaders & Celebrities, Traditional/Folk Music & Dance and Much More…
The Craft Week is an opportunity to sneak peek into evolving trends of home grown products, textiles, furniture, home & interiors, lifestyle products, decorative art, and communication (narratives) encompassing regional and folk styles, composition, utility, material culture & narratives from across India. It’s a beginning of trickle-up trend emerging from non-urban centers/rural India, true and authentic Indian sensibilities that have inspired generations of Artists, Designers, Creative Professionals, and individuals. ICW will connect Industry and Individuals on one side to “Strategic’ crafts for quality, authenticity, originality, ethical, green, and sustainability on the other side. It will synergize traditional artisans, craftsmen, craft preneurs, craft designers, craft brands, buyers, consumers and all craft enthusiasts on a single platform with the best en vogue trends.
The ICW has been supported by Craft Beton by Dalmia Bharat, JW Marriott, Art Tree, and Pashmina.com who also have similar objectives in supporting and bringing on board the finest of rare & exclusive crafts.
Iti Tyagi, Founder of India Craft Week says “Crafts has always been perceived mediocre in India, though world over hand-crafted and hand-made has found a great demand. The formats of yester years are still predominant like Mela, Bazaar and Haats. However, the consumer generation world over has changed and is looking for more aspirational and well branded products, and therefore there is an enough opportunity to build or re-invent a new imagery for Craft Sector & Products. Such initiatives like India Craft Week is also of significance, as the next generation of Craftsperson/Artisan find no livelihood as well as glamour in this industry, and hence in absence of both have been changing their profession to new areas. If we don’t act now, we will not be able to stop this migration resulting in end of the rare & exclusive craft skills existing for generations and for thousands of years. We will lose an era”.
While adding on behalf of GMR, Aman Kapoor, Head, Aerocity said “This partnership with Craft Village was natural, as Terminal-3 is first connect of most of International Travellers to India, and Aerocity being the touch point needs to reflect the richness of Indian Tradition, Culture and Crafts to the world. India Craft Week is an attempt to mark a new beginning for Aerocity as the neo-culture destination for people from across the world to come and explore India, and our role is to connect Contemporary with a rich heritage, and at GMR we firmly believe in preserving and promoting rare and exclusive crafts”.
Craft Village is a social enterprise, works for the revival and up-liftment of crafts and craftsperson, through various awareness programs workshops and events. It has been instrumental in organizing state-of-art events for Craft Sector, including International Craft Day in 2016 & 17, International Craft Awards with more than 30-countries participating, and has been organizing craft workshops, where in past three years have trained more than 7500 craft enthusiasts. Craft Village has become the pioneer in Crafts Training and Promotions.
Craft Village has been established to bridge the gap between rural & urban communities; the objective is to provide a platform for learning and sharing Rare & Exclusive Traditional Crafts, which finally helps in up-liftment of Craftsman and their communities. The initiative has been taken to educate children in their formative years to understand the importance of Crafts in nation building, livelihood, social inclusion & sustainable culture besides giving major source of employability to millions of people.
Craft village also offers trans-disciplinary education to improve the quality of life of crafts persons by providing formal contemporary design and product development through design-technology-skill development programs/ workshops on regular basis.
