Collaborative Futures: Craft And Design

Modern day design practices have seen the birth of craft collaboration and have started investing in the craft industry. A major part of craft development today involves intervention and in some ways manipulation to make artisanal products desirable for the urban audiences. This article discusses the nuances of collaboration in craft, attempts by individuals and organisations and its effect on the craft practices.

- Ketaki Pratap Jadhav | Rishav Jain

Today the idea of ‘Make in India’ movement has set the ball rolling for creating indigenous products and hence the demand for them have increased in the market. As a result, most designers try and include concepts that aim at achieving an “Indian aesthetic” by implementing traditional methods and skills. Craft collaboration is one of the ways that addresses this vision and can be helpful at any scale, at an individual level, at a cluster level, at an organisational level, at a national level or even at an international level. The word collaboration means two or more people working together with shared goals.

The process of craft collaboration can benefit various avenues such as collaborating for education, design development, for rapid production, implementation of new government policies, increasing financial support or even for introducing new technology. Many design studios and organisations work on the lines of these notions and in turn benefit the craft community and practices. These individuals, organisations have often nurtured craft clusters, opened up work opportunities or simply helped in inculcating a sense of pride for the craft or the craftsperson. Few are mentioned below: