Centre ropes in NID to give fillip to dying crafts of minorities

NID, which officially joined the project two weeks ago, will identify traditional community craft clusters that could represent the communities in an inclusive manner and could become the beneficiaries of the project. “We would establish the criteria for the selection of a craft, set standards for craftsmen, like authenticity, fair practices, promotion, best practices quality assurance, among other things. The socio-cultural, historic and economic aspects of the craft in terms of skills, techniques and processes, will also be documented. We will develop design development workshops that will look at the three aspects, including capacity-building, product development and diversification and training of master-craftsmen trainers,” said Shimul Vyas, faculty and head of NID’s Outreach Programmes, who is heading the project.

Under the NID’s intervention, 3-6 month and one-year courses in craft development will be worked out, which will be certified by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, said the NID faculty. While the NID is engaged in this project for the next 4-5 years, a dedicated team for each cluster will have a year-long engagement with each cluster. Giving a roadmap of the project, Vyas said, “In the first year, we will pick five clusters engaging in the endangered crafts. We plan to do three workshops per cluster and the course curriculum will be developed for the craft clusters so that youth from the minority community can derive formal training and help stay engaged in the traditional craft undertaken by their community.”

“Another important parameter will be if getting women involved so that they can be trained and their skills upgraded. This project is set to become an important platform for the promotion of traditional crafts,” Vyas further added.