The role of Design in the Future of Craft - Vidhu Goyal

With the process of industrialization sweeping through the country, craft is struggling to find a place for itself. Craft products are being undermined by the mass produced goods. Moreover, to add to this trouble, genuine craft products are being replaced by cheaper and more attractive mass produced substitutes.

Today, the biggest threat to craft is the loss of livelihood for the craftsmen. Crafts which have been running in families since times immemorial are no more seen as a lucrative career by the younger generations. Craft persons are not given the right price for their products and we, designers are partly responsible for that. There are instances when we use their services in our work and don't give them their due, be it money or recognition and acknowledgement. It is extremely important that we credit them whenever we make use of their skills or craft directly or as inspirations.

Another important role lies in promoting and marketing the craft. Beyond doubt, a designer has a wider reach which can be used to promote craft and generate awareness and desirability.

The future of craft in India needs the teaching of craft and sensitization of craft issues at the school level. There needs to be more awareness not just about the craft but also about the larger issue of our country's heritage and cultural identity. This is because when a craft dies, it is not only the artisans and their business that dies but also an entire history, a legacy, a tradition, a knowledge that dies with it.

Craft seems to have a lot of learning and applications for design. So it would be mutually beneficial for design and craft to go ahead in the future hand in hand. Design would gain from the richness and simplicity of crafts while crafts would gain economic sustenance and viability from design.

Design has failed its very existence with its inability to unearth the wealth that lies in a craft, in a responsible way and feed it back into the mainstream. So it is high time that people from or related to the field of design wake up and take responsibility.

But here, there is one thing we need to be clear about. Are we trying to sustain the world of craft or of craftsmen? A lot of measures taken by organisations or individuals for saving the craft merely provide craftsmen access to new design and technology, thus endangering the craft even more. So before reaching out to others, designers have to let go off their own attachment and dependency on machines and see the incomparable beauty of hand skills.

It is important that design helps craft by introducing various other possibilities, in terms of techniques or designs so long as the very essence of the craft stays alive.

By maintaining their individualities as well as by learning from one another, I feel Design and Craft can have a great future together.

So lets all strive to keep the fire alive!