Eco-friendly Textiles and Crafts for Sustainable Development

by Nupur Bahl, Project Manager - Switch Asia.
“Consumers are increasingly becoming aware of the environmental and ethical issues and this is opening up new market segments all over the world”, said experts while speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Promoting eco-friendly textiles and crafts” at the India International Centre today. The panel discussion is part of the Switch Asia Project supported bythe European Union and implemented in India by Traidcraft -UK, in partnership with the All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA), Delhi and Consortium of Textile Exporters (COTEX), Jaipur.

The event marked the launch of two baseline studies on the current environmental impact of selected textile and craft production processes and market potential for eco-friendly products in India. The studies point out that, in the minds of consumers, eco-friendliness is not just limited to environmental concerns but also social concerns like fair wages and safe working conditions.

The first study looks at standards for eco-friendly products and their market potential within India and the second study looks at the environment, health and safety issues in five selected craft clusters spread across the country. The study provides recommendations on steps that could be taken to make production processes less harmful to the health of artisans and to the ecology. The study found that chronic toxicity caused by some of these processes could cause serious damage to the respiratory system, eye sight and nervous system of the workers.
In her keynote address, Laila Tyabji, stated that the Indian textile and craft production processes have been passed on from one generation to the next, but many of these traditions are breaking down due to changing market preferences and natural resource degradation leading to a loss of livelihoods in the crafts sector. To arrest this trend, experts said that producers and entrepreneurs need to become more sensitive to the production processes used and the working conditions of workers. The need for putting more emphasis on the disposability of the product as an indicator of eco-friendliness was suggested by Rajan Gandhi of Society for Action Group.

Renowned environmental researcher and activist, Dunu Roy, pointed out that the current emphasis is on curative ways of tackling the health and safety hazards in the textiles and crafts sector whereas there is an urgent need to adopt a preventive approach by getting rid of any harmful chemicals and other potentially harmful factors in the production process itself.
The finding of the study will be widely disseminated among producer communities across the country. The draft reports of the studies have been put up for feedback/comments on the AIACA website and can be accessed at http://aiacaonline.org/health.html

For more information, contact:
Nupur Bahl,
Project Manager - Switch Asia Project
Email: n.bahl@aiacaonline.org
All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA)
18- East of Kailash Community Centre, (3rd Floor), New Delhi - 110065
Ph # 91-11-26416492 / 93 / 94, Ext- 117

New Collection from Sandur

This new production collection of primarily soft furnishings and a small collection of stoles/dupattas has been designed by textile designer & Lakme Fashion Week participant, Julie Kagti in collaboration with Sandur Kushala Kala Kendra SKKK). Sandur works with Lambani artisans in the Bellary district of Karnataka. Lambanis or Banjaras belong to a gypsy tribe and are well-known for their exquisite traditional hand-embroidery using various stitches and mirror crafts. The focus of the collection was to retain the unique attributes of Lambani embroidery, but to use a new colour palette, with designs that are suitable for the contemporary market. Julie brought her own design sensibilities and aesthetic to showcase the skill & expertise of the artisans. The design workshop was part of AIACA-Sandur partnership in Enterprise Support Program. The Program works with craft groups that have the potential to grow but need support to strengthen their management, institutional design, production, inventory management, design, and marketing. More details on Sandur is available at www.kushalakalasandur.com . To read more about Julie Kagti go to http://knotsoncloth.com/profile/julie-kagti

Nature Bazaar 2009

Nature Bazaar in New Delhi is a large, outdoor mela or market, made up of make shift colourful tents held up with bamboo poles, set around the rolling green lawns of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, on Janpath. This year (2009) there was a Monkey theme, and papier mache monkey's dangled from the trees, greeting visitors, whilst performers donned costume and performed their role as cheeky, naughty monkey's - sometimes too well. Nature Bazaar is the brainchild of Dastkar a society for crafts and craftspeople . It's an umbrella organization that brings artisans from different parts of India under one roof to enable them to sell straight to the public, so that they deal directly with their customer base, and cut out middle men & sales agents. For many groups this is one of the biggest events on their calender, and they spend many months in preparation - weaving, spinning, moulding, shaping, twining, twirling, embroidering.... Nature is held in various cities and showcases the dynamic and skillful work of artisans from across India. The Bazaar is really a hub for creativity, and a celebration of the country's cultural & artistic diversity. The exhibition really is also a sensory experience - popping with colour, texture and pattern.

Dastkar Ranthambore

Dastkar Ranthambore works with women artisans in the villages around Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in the Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan. Dastkar's distinctive Tiger motif & use of trees, birds and animal imagery demonstrates the communities concern for the natural environment, and in particular, the endangered Tiger species found in the area. Dastkar has been working in the region since 1980, supporting women in their production of patch work, & embroidered products

Fab India's New Sari Store in Pune, India

Photos by Sharmila Wood

Craftmark & Dhoop Exhibition Invite

IMA Market- All women market in Manipur

by Anubha Sood

September 2009

Where would you find only women selling goods in a market? Not one or five women but more than 3200 women under one roof doing trade! This is Ima market, also known as Mothers Market or Khwairamband bazaar in Manipur. This all-women market according to the Manipuris has been there for over 100 years and has played an important role in Manipur’s history, even during the British Raj. Women between the ages of 16 and 66 gather here every morning and do business. They sell fish, vegetables, kitchen utensils, spices, handicrafts, Phaneks (sarongs), rugs, lanterns and much more in their stalls. One striking feature is that goods and commodities sold by these women are, for the most part, local products. Besides locally made handicrafts, items and produce from the neighbouring kitchen gardens, lakes, ponds, hills and farmlands are collected and sold here.

This is where they do their business, shop for their weekly goods, listen to each other’s stories, discuss politics, make plans and decide on what to write in a memorandum to the Government. This is where they run their own lives from as well as that of their community. Women we interacted with, their mothers and grandmothers also ran their business from the same place.

We were offered tea and sweets wherever we stopped to see the wares and chat a little. We had a famous Manipuri actress showing us around, which caught some attention with some of the Imas but most were busy doing business as it was time to shut shop and count cash. With some, we managed to interact a little and hear a bit about their business. Some women shopkeepers like to keep a little bit of everything but most like to specialise in one kind of produce or product. In some families these women are the sole earning members, and have managed to educate their children and run their families by means of their earning from this business. For others, it’s more a place to meet their friends and carry on the ancestral trade.

They have always faced challenges from rival markets, controlled by men. One of the women stated that sometime in 1948-52, some local male merchants even tried to demolish the existing shed. Another major incident occurred in the early 1990s, when the women received an eviction notice from the State urban development authorities. Currently, a new shed is under construction as the state government wants to rebuild it by demolishing the Ima market.

Regular bandhs, strikes and shoot outs in the state have also affected these women’s business in the Ima market. We could see how this might be a constant concern as even while we were there a bandh had us cut short our visit to Manipur. We couldn’t venture out and the bandh hours kept getting extended from 16 hours to 24 and then 48 hours. We had to take a flight out and abandon our plans to explore yet another uncharted part of the North East where we are planning to work as we partner with local organisations or entrepreneurs, of whom, we realised, there are plenty in the region. For us, it was possible to leave as the bandh affected our work but surely that was not an option for these enterprising women at the Ima market, for social, economic and cultural ties that underpins their lives in this difficult yet most beautiful of places.