Reviving the Legacy of Indian Artisans: The Decline and the Way Forward

WHO ARE ARTISANS AND THEIR CURRENT STATUS?

In our opinion, the true culture and heritage of India are showcased by handicrafts and traditional crafts. Indian artisans flourished until the outbreak of 19th-century industrialization. The artisans carry a legacy of their land, myth, and culture and carve their art into forms that can be forwarded to generations. Handicrafts are generally conceived of as products that by definition are predominantly handmade.

The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) in India clearly establishes this element of the concept in the following definition: Items or products produced through skills that are manual, with or without mechanical or electrical or other processes, which appeals to the eye, due to the characteristics of being artistic or aesthetic or creative or ethnic or being representative of cultural or religious or social symbols or practices, whether traditional or contemporary. These items or products may or may not have a functional utility and can be used as a decorative item or gift (EPCH Circular). We noticed that despite various efforts by the Indian government, the artisans have continued suffering due to rapid industrialisation. Also, the Indian handicraft industry is on the verge of declining because of technological advancement, which has provided us with machines which can do the same work in less time and cost.

Upon analysing stats, we found that the Indian handicraft industry contributes only about 2% to the 400-billion-dollar global handicraft economy. In our country, this sector provides employment opportunities to a large number of artisans from generation to generation, since these skills have a genetic influence too. Our skilled artisans have always created the finest works of superior quality not to be found anywhere else. India with its rich resources of age-old handloom and handicrafts with a large number of skilled Artisans has a lot to contribute to this global movement as a pioneer.

Each and every artwork and the handcrafted product has a unique story to tell. As these handicrafts move through the value chain, this story gets buried deeper and deeper in the layers of time till eventually, it is lost to the world. Most of these human stories are a reflection of the craftsman who poured himself into his handicraft. These stories sometimes tell the journey of the long hours that he laboured at his potting wheel, perfecting minute details by candlelight. Sometimes, these stories convey the many miles that he had to walk to transport his deftly crafted goods to the nearest market. The main problem many of today’s homegrown artisans face is the threat posed by colossal manufacturers who produce handicraft replicas en masse.

The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) describes artisans (and even more so less skilled workers employed in handicraft industries) as one of poorest occupational categories in the country. We found this a matter of concern that despite it having higher potential, we are living in an era where the handicraft sector is suffering a decline, Eager to know what led to the decline of artisans?....continue reading. Source: https://www.indianretailer.com/article/sector-watch/fashion/5-factors-depleting-the-Indian-handicraft-industry.a5382 CAUSES FOR DECLINE- ILLETRACY All of us are aware of the pitiful illiteracy rate in India as people living in small tribal villages are not open to upgrading themselves. We talked to many artisans and found that illiteracy is one of the major causes which has resulted in their decline. Artisans’ lack of knowledge forbids them from accessing government schemes and benefits, thus hindering their upliftment. Also, this affects their bargaining power which leads to them selling the goods at very cheap rates and they are not able to acquire good quality raw material, which sets the products below those which are imported, machine made and cheap. Decline in the bargaining power of artisans to command a higher share of value addition in the industry. LACK OF DEMAND We were anxious to know why is the demand for handicraft items declining in the market. The culprit was Globalization and western influences on teenagers. With the arrival of Globalization, cheaper, imported goods are available in the market. Handicraft products are now perceived as inferior to modern products and are merely used for decorative purposes. With the increasing western influence, people, especially teenagers now consider handicrafts as old crafts and look upon them with a stigma of inferiority. We are sure all teenagers would agree to this! There is a wide Gap Between Artisan Products & Urban Consumers. This gap has been widening over the decades as a consequence of a tightening of demand from rural areas, and also because of the increased focus on international markets. FOREIGN COMPETITION We know that when it comes to cheap machine-made goods, China has no competition. Handmade products manufactured in India can be made in China with machines in a short span of time. Also, there is no standardization of products in India as the artisans are not well-versed in technological advancements and the ongoing trends in the market. China has a huge volume production capacity which gives it an upper hand over the Indian artisans’ products. Artisans organised as self-employed producers under conditions of increased competition and trade liberalisation are affected in two ways. Firstly, they are affected by a loss of employment and income as a consequence of a loss of demand, where mass-produced goods out-compete handicraft products in certain markets. This impact is reflected across the value chain as a whole. However, unlike other functional income categories, such as exporters and/or traders, artisans (and less skilled workers) are not left with alternative sources of income to depend upon for their consumption requirements. Secondly, another way in which artisans are affected is by changes in the money values attached to their labour in the context of market exchanges. Unlike traders and/or exporters who can use their infrastructure, knowledge, contacts and resources to diversify their income, artisans have very specialised skills. A loss in the values attached to such specialised skills may be linked to factors such as changing tastes and/or supply relative to demand. Loss in price competitiveness compared to massproduced goods The main element contributing towards value addition in the production process is the direct application of manual work on the relevant products. This process cannot be replaced by machines. Increases in labour productivity measured in terms of labour/output ratios, and mechanisation, are thus excluded a priori, at least in some aspects of production, especially if quality standards are to be maintained. This is even more soothe case for decorative items. Overall, the nature of the products being produced includes an inherent barrier towards mechanisation and hence increased labour productivity. This, in turn, makes it difficult for producers to reduce production costs. NON-AVAILABILITY OF RAW MATERIALS Have you heard about the Jajmani system? During the 18th and 19th centuries, the artisans were able to get access to raw materials by this system of trade. The lower caste worked for the upper peasant class and were paid in grains and kind. Thanks to this system, the artisans were able to get the required raw materials. However, after these traditional systems were scrapped away during British rule, the artisans found it difficult to buy raw materials at affordable prices and were forced to turn to local traders, who would provide them the materials at high prices or switch to other non-traditional raw materials. NO AWARENESS OF TECHNOLOGY This point is directly or indirectly related to all the points stated by us above, illiteracy is the cause for this point and lack of demand and no raw materials is a direct consequence. The artisans practice what they have inherited from previous generations. We observed that there are not many institutions to make the artisans aware of the importance of technology to improve the production process and for marketing their products on social media platforms. As a reason of which they are going unnoticed, and the sector is declining. By the above factors, We have tried to make it clear why the artisans' business is on a decline. Conclusion

The Handicraft industry lacks pioneers, who can take advantage of technology and the e-commerce boom because the younger generation is not too enthusiastic to carry further the legacy of generational art forms instead of better prospects. More than 80 percent of the local handicraft industry is led by MSMEs and they need to be aided and incentivized to formalize the employment of artisans and weavers. It will also help to ensure job security and offer social and medical cover for the artisans. https://www.ijntr.org/download_data/IJNTR06100018.pdf HELP BY GOVERNMENT AND NGO’S

We observed that there was in fact a lot of help being provided to the artists by the government. The government has come up with many schemes to help the artisans' community- Indian government, in collaboration with other organisations such as the United Nations (UN), has put in place several initiatives to tackle the ‘bottlenecks‘ existing in the industry. This includes credit and training facilities, marketing tools, and direct investment in modern technologies. The purpose of these initiatives is to make Indian handicraft products more competitive, particularly in international markets. These initiatives would help to protect the realisation of expected profit margins. This, in turn, would increase employment generation. According to the general view, it would also lead to poverty alleviation amongst artisans, since it would increase the demand for artisan labour (and other types of labour) in the relevant industries and thereby change the labour market dynamics (i.e. the demand and supply of labour) in favour of artisans and less-skilled workers.

WHAT WE DO AT SHILPKAAR?

Shilpkaar was started by Enactus MPSTME, after analysing the fact that even the government schemes are not sufficient for the upliftment of artisans and everyone was not able to benefit from it. We know that India is a diverse country, and every state has its distinct art form. The term Shilpkaar is a combination of two Hindi words ‘shilp’ meaning craft and ‘kaar’ meaning work, which literally translates to Craft Workers. It was started with the intention to serve India's diverse craft traditions while also providing sustainable employment to local artisans. During preliminary research, it was found that India generates around 3.3 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, with 80% of it ending up in landfills. Our traditional craft techniques have long believed in upcycling waste and optimizing the use of materials. So, our aim is not only to uplift the artisans but also to make sure that we create sustainable products, using upcycled materials, that do not harm our environment in any way.

We are actively working to shift the mindset from ‘artisans working for you to working with you.’

References: https://www.indianretailer.com/article/sector-watch/fashion/5-factors-depleting-the-Indian-handicraft-industry.a5382 https://www.ijntr.org/download_data/IJNTR06100018.pdf The Challenges Faced By Artisans In Developing Countries | Vceela - Marketplace for handicrafts by artisans and artists