In India, identity—both individual and collective—is deeply tied to what a community creates/does (occupation) as a result of which they may carry it as a surname as in the case of Kashmir ‘Mansur Naqash’ (Mansur artist/designer) or the locality may be named after the occupation of its inhabitants such as ‘Jaladoj Mohalla’ (locality of embroiderers). Thus a craft defines who you are, where you belong, and your role in the cosmic order. Craft practices were not always documented histories confined to text, often artisans used material culture to transmit knowledge through tangible visual cultural artifacts or through demonstration, observation and oral recitation in the Vousta-Tsat/Ustad-shagird (master-apprentice) format.Inspiration is drawn from their environment and landscape for narratives, motifs and colour to archive the memory of the land they inhabit.
Understanding Indigenous practices should be through Co-Learning, Not Condescension: Design education often implicitly teaches students that they are superior and the “saviors” who will uplift rural artisans with their modern design sensibilities. As opposed to this, design education must eliminate this hierarchy; students must enter clusters as apprentices to indigenous material intelligence—learning from the master artisan’s onsite and giving the master craftsmen the dignity and respect they would their University Professors.
India is an extremely rich repository of craft and textile traditions (unlikely that all have been identified and documented yet). Some traditions have become mainstream such as Benarasi silk, Chikankari, Chanderi, Kanjeevaram and many others that enjoy robust commercial markets and global recognition, however there is a vast landscape of localized, highly sophisticated traditions that remain largely invisible.
Some examples are Kharad rug weaving from Kutch, Telia rumal from Andhra Pradesh, Toda work from Tamil Naduto name a few. These traditions are not merely decorative; they represent deep material understanding, nomadic resilience, and complex geometry.
Read the full story that first appeared in The Global Indian here:
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