Folklore

Niaz Zaman describes the needlecraft of Kantha as "women's art ". Traditionally the Kantha embroidery of Bengal has been the forte of women, unlike Zardosi and Ari work which is predominated by men folk. The craft has a history of being a revered recycled product. A Kantha is considered to be layers of old sarees or dhotis quilted together to form a blanket, used by the poor as a protection against cold. Later the 'nakshi' form of it was born in the household of undivided Bengal as a portrait of women's aspiration and dream. The paper discusses how Kantha has been dominated by women and has eventually helped to empower hundreds of them. The various factors that made it woman-centric have been explored through primary research conducted among 50 artisans from Nanoor, Birbhum District, and Kadambagachi, Barashat District of West Bengal. The study presents a comparative study of both the clusters. The paper also explores how this needle-craft of Bengal underwent modifications from being a personal gift to a commercial product, thus empowering women and encompassing more beneficiaries under its umbrella, hand held by NGOs, Design Institutions, craft revivalists, and designers.

The Collin's English Dictionary describes Kantha as 'a type of Bengali embroidered quilt'. It was generally made as a depiction of aspirations of the rural women of undivided Bengal. The Kantha makers casually embroidered a motif which was usually inspired by her immediate surroundings, including the flora and fauna, items of everyday use and things she considered valuable and were a reflection of the time and society. The best example of this is Manadasundari's Kantha kept in Gurusaday Museum in Joka, Kolkata. It apparently depicts the socio-cultural picture of Bengal under the British rule. There are several other Kanthas that speaks of religious tolerance and the importance of nature and objects of daily use. This study is fallout of several discussions with some stakeholders of the craft: artisans, designers, and scholars. It contains secondary research from books and papers on Kantha. In this paper a detailed discussion is made on popular motifs like the Tree of Life, Cosmos, Fish, Lotus etc. and their meanings with insights from Perveen Ahmad and Niaz Zaman. Four different Kanthas kept in various museums are critically studied to comprehend how the motifs indicate the societal change in socio-cultural, political and religious domains. The paper reviews personal experiences of various Kantha exponents from a recent seminar ' The Eye of a Needle', organized by the Crafts Council of West Bengal, in its 50th year, in association with and at Birla Academy on 28 April 2018. It further deliberates on the contribution of some designers and artists, who have given modern Kantha some freshness. It may be concluded that transformation in Kantha-motifs, is an attempt to add newness to the traditional craft form rather than to overshadow folklore. This gives a pleasant implication towards globalization and its impact on crafts.

Handcrafting in India was indigenous and intuitive. In due course, it became an effective tool for political and much later social justice. Mahatma Gandhi instilled the doctrines of Swadeshi, as part of his visionary path towards non-violence. This inspired the use of native products and empowered the rural masses. An immediate response to this was an enormous resistance towards foreign produces, fuelling the historic 'Quit India Movement', an incredible milestone in India's struggle for freedom. A propel was witnessed post-independence in the Indian handloom and handicraft sectors, in the early 1950s. This, supported by the strategies of the new government, turned everyday objects (like the humble clothing) into agents of social change. Similarly, Khadi was not just an initiative to generate employment for the huge rural populace; it was a prelude to the gradual shift towards sustainable fashion, championed by fair trade and eco-friendly processes. The research at hand uses 'narrative enquiry' both as a method and methodology. As the central idea of the paper follows "co-creation", a participatory research approach becomes the natural course. Within the participatory model, the researcher conducted workshops with artisans and designers and exchanged dialogues with NGOs. It includes secondary data on 'craftivism' that stirs up debate around 'social justice' by deconstructing prevalent global discourses. These in India are inherently colonial, gendered and point towards the absence of social mobility for craft communities. The secondary data in the form of 'case studies' provides the much needed theoretical framework to study the contemporary practices in craft and how they could be applied in an India context. The study uses a multi-method approach comprising of in-depth interviews and 'co-creation' practices (with artisans and designers). The human stories of groundbreaking achievements by rural artisans provide an alternative insight in challenging the societal clichés while shaping the shifting ideas.

The Collin's English Dictionary describes Kantha as 'a type of Bengali embroidered quilt'. It was generally made as a depiction of aspirations of the rural women of undivided Bengal. The Kantha makers casually embroidered a motif which was usually inspired by her immediate surroundings, including the flora and fauna, items of everyday use and things she considered valuable and were a reflection of the time and society. The best example of this is Manadasundari's Kantha kept in Gurusaday Museum in Joka, Kolkata. It apparently depicts the socio-cultural picture of Bengal under the British rule. There are several other Kanthas that speaks of religious tolerance and the importance of nature and objects of daily use. This study is fallout of several discussions with some stakeholders of the craft: artisans, designers, and scholars. It contains secondary research from books and papers on Kantha. In this paper a detailed discussion is made on popular motifs like the Tree of Life, Cosmos, Fish, Lotus etc. and their meanings with insights from Perveen Ahmad and Niaz Zaman. Four different Kanthas kept in various museums are critically studied to comprehend how the motifs indicate the societal change in socio-cultural, political and religious domains. The paper reviews personal experiences of various Kantha exponents from a recent seminar ' The Eye of a Needle', organized by the Crafts Council of West Bengal, in its 50th year, in association with and at Birla Academy on 28 April 2018. It further deliberates on the contribution of some designers and artists, who have given modern Kantha some freshness. It may be concluded that transformation in Kantha-motifs, is an attempt to add newness to the traditional craft form rather than to overshadow folklore. This gives a pleasant implication towards globalization and its impact on crafts.

In India, craft has been the backbone of the rural economy for decades. They were considered weapons of non-violent protest during the Swadeshi Movement. Post-independence, the craft sectors were the primary focus of the social reformists and considered as tools for income generation. Today, they are considered as the second largest income generator, after agriculture in rural India, yet these clusters remain unorganised and fail to utilise the advances of globalisation. This case study is an outcome of a survey and reflection including personal work experiences with Kantha artisans of the Birbhum district in West Bengal. The paper explores the gradual development in craft practice and its aftereffect on a group of 50 artisans over five years. It is imperative to state that the primary data, collected through observation and interviews indicate two major gaps that deter the expected growth in this sector, i.e., lack of innovative design and marketing linkages. The endurance of any craft process depends on the awareness of its legacy among the youth. Unless it is accepted and valued by the consumers of tomorrow, the survival of any handcrafted process is uncertain. Keeping this as a directional insight many design schools are inclusive of the craft process as part of their curriculum. Not only as a field of study and research, but prominent institutes are also opening new dialogues between students, alumni designers and artisans. The study explores such co-creation models that are bridging the gap while offering design diversifications that are ideated as per market needs. Interviews with collaborators help conclude that such co-creation models not only distribute the responsibility among the stakeholders but acknowledge their roles, thus creating a sense of pride while benefiting the craft cluster holistically. Repurposing crafts to a niche global platform, while marketing them through e-commerce opens new paths especially during a pandemic.