The identity of crafts - Sudeepta Kumar

The scenario of ‘crafts’ today is on the verge of fading away with time. Most of the crafts of our nation have by now stayed away from technology, and for me that is the reason that accounts fro the very essence of ‘crafts’. Even the definition of the term says “an activity involving skill in making things by hand”. That’s what a craft is about. To help and re facilitate these crafts, they should first be detached from technology, wherever they are.

Design for me is in a way analogous to Crafts, or rather crafts are the purest and oldest forms of design. They can also be taken as lessons in design. Considering the example of ‘Copper Bells’ made by craftsmen of Zura village in Kutch, the shepherds felt a need of some kind of a system that could keep the livestock together and also the shepherds informed about the location of their cattle. This was possible only with the help of some kind of a sound system at that time, around 400years back. These bells provided the livestock with an involuntary language that made communication possible within themselves,even if they did not make their respective deliberate sounds. This they say effectively made their livestock to stay together when they were left in the fields for grazing. All the more, the shepherd would also be informed about the location of livestock in the fields and during transits by these ringing copper bells.

As designers if we can promote these crafts in their very state, it would be a start towards a better future for these crafts. We should first understand that the identity of crafts stands tall in the way they are, away from ‘speed of machines and mass production’. That’s the element that adds value to an artifact, the time spent on it by the craftsman, a separate story behind each one of them. The idea once understood shall be promoted to the common people by word of mouth or brochures. Because an activity like craft can only be appreciated if it is taken in the very essence where it holds to its identity. These crafts can even be promoted through medias like skilful presentations in different ways like, websites, T.V. shows or even other cheap medias like newspapers or even radios. More people come to know about these crafts brighter would be their future.

I believe most of the crafts are finest and oldest of designs that solved major problems in history, though they might have become emblems of ‘hard work and purity’ today. Just the way copper bells are now used as mere ‘gifts’ and ‘decorative’ in present times.

Major markets for the crafts today are countries in the West, for example U.S.A. for copper bells. If as designers we can promote these crafts in these countries where they are gaining appreciation along with doing it in our own country, we can do some good to these crafts. I think these are the practical ways in which these crafts can be helped and seen in future.

The crafts ought to be promoted in the very form they are in, any addition, subtraction and manipulation will only hurt the respect and identity of these crafts. A craft is like a religion; the craftsperson a devout and craftsmanship would be how deep could he go in his cataleptic state of mind.