The Plan...

Well...

This is a first, but I'm just going to stick to instincts!! I have decided to hold a few workshops with the weavers in Fulia. What I intend to achieve out of these workshops is a pocket of new ideas in terms of designs for the products the weavers make. But these products will be generated through a combined effort - "combined forces", so to speak. I have come across a number of different processes used for design over the past month. But my question is, which one suits the craftsman the most? Or, which one suits the craft the most? There are different paths, all leading to the same collective end - Options that are laid out in front of the designer and/or the craftsman like a red carpet. It comes down to the choice, then. Which one do YOU choose?

My Calender for the Month

-note-

Please note the link to my flickr site where I am updating the photographs of Phulia/Fulia. The current lot is from my first visit.

Minutes of my First Review

The review started with a presentation. I had summed up my month of research into eleven slides, and two charts, and I talked my panel through it. I had also determined an output for my project – a book that generates awareness about the craft sector. I stated that I wanted it to be for new practitioners of textile design, ones that are fresh out of college, or just starting out in the field. After listening to all I had to say, and asking questions related to the information I had gathered, the feedback I was given was that I should now to take a stand and include my opinion on all that I had found out. Also, on its own, to use just Bailou as a model might not create the impact I want it to, and to therefore look at other such organizations as well (e.g. Weavers Studio and SASHA), and then draw the various contrasts and/or comparisons. I will also be going down to the village to learn their side of the story, and to strengthen this I was asked to maybe hold a couple of workshops or discussions that helps me gain an insight on which form of intervention the weavers think is most apt. To help in this whole ‘ice-breaking’ situation, we also brainstormed on the kinds of workshops I should/could conduct - the outcome of which would be the main crux of my project. Ideas such as generating combined mood boards, or working with music, or with colours were some that were discussed. Also, to gain complete access to information, I would need to strike a level of comfort with the weaver and his family, and the workshops might help with speeding this process up a bit. Another thing would be to find out their interest points and talk about them, rather than go in there with a closed agenda. To do this, the IDEO cards were recommended. Another question that was put on the table was to perhaps look at other business models and see if they could be related and could in fact enhance the model that has been adopted by Bailou currently. Also, to look at models that has been used by other companies for other forms of craft. I was advised to read through Anita Roddick’s ‘Body and Soul”, and also “The Craftsman”. In terms of my proposed output, I was asked to write the preface for the book – to include what would engage the reader to go through the whole thing, “concisely packaging” my whole project into a couple of paragraphs (that would be helpful for me too). I was also advised to expand the mediums I was using to record my research, and to include film and photography as well, even if they weren’t going to be included in my final output.

My next review is scheduled for the 22^nd of September, and this month will have a lot more active hands-on work that will be included. The last month had been my groundwork, so the pace of things should pick up now.

18th August, 2008

Slides From My Presentation...

A Fresh Start

Alright...

I have just returned from my 1st review, after starting this project. Needless to say, I was looking forward to it. Going back to Bangalore was a little strange. The pressure there is completely different. The tension in the air is so tangible, you can taste it. But there's an underlining excitement. This is what we've been building up towards!! I'm not going to be left out! Trying to replicate the tension back in Kolkata is a completely different ball game! I feel like I'm being left out of something here. Like I'm not a part of it. And it's lonely here too... It feels like a neither here nor there sort of situation.
But on the positive, I'm going to Phulia on Sunday, for my first recce. from the following week onwards I will be shifting there for longer periods of time. so, fingers crossed!

Embroidery v/s Print

Bappa and Rumi design all the products that Bailou makes. And they have very different ideologies! They have different tastes, and mannerisms, and lean towards different aspects of textiles. Rumi says she is more inclined towards embroidery - that she always has been. Bappa, on the other hand, is more inclined towards print. But they both agreed on the fact that nothing was going to take the spotlight away from the weaves.
Solution? They set up a printing unit in Phulia, where they block-print on warps. And in terms of embroidery, they've introduced sequence, tassles, high twis-yarns etc to the weft.
The son of one of the weavers now runs the printing studio. He also has a unit of six looms under him. He learned the technique of block-printing from Bappa, and now manages it on his own. As for the embroidery, the women in the weavers' families make the fancy yarn. For a metre (depending on how many sequins or tassles are added) they are paid about Rs.1.50. As a result, the weaver is profiting more than he had before, and more than he had imagined.

Bailou calls it 'GLAMORIZING THE HANDLOOM'!

It's quite simple really. You just have to want it bad enough!