Handicrafts of South Asia

The term “craft” encompasses the more tangible and material-heavy methods, such as ceramics, woodwork, metalwork and textiles, which in of itself can include embroidery, dyeing, even crocheting.

It is generally understood in the wider public sphere that art is something we revere and gaze at with awe, whereas crafts are hobbies we use to pass the time and "cute" little side-projects. And now, with the rise of generative AI, even art is seen as a silly thing to pursue, leading to already-undervalued artisans becoming even more ignored.

Elitism poisons everything it touches, and because of it, some people simply do not understand the delight of creating by hand, of art and craft as respective fields, of creativity as a whole. 

I personally believe that the spurning of craft is due to an association between tangible crafts and the heritage of traditional culture, or rather the “primitive” parts of said cultures. In modern times, there is a constant move to ‘progress’ beyond tradition as though the concept itself is obsolete and useless; but I find when we attempt to discredit traditional endeavours, sometimes we end up ignoring their important relationship with the respective cultures they thrive in.

Consider if we try to ‘progress’ beyond craft, which is generally associated with cultures outside of the white, Western hemisphere, how is it progression? Why must we rid ourselves of art to evolve, as though it is not art that makes us revolutionary? 

Amidst all this philosophy, I sought to bring the spotlight back to what I consider an intrinsic part of humanity, the more tangible side of ourselves that is often overlooked, undervalued and left behind in the grand scheme of ‘progression’. While many would consider other fields more important, such as science and mathematics and politics, it is important to recognise what the position of craft as a whole means.

The state of craft as a field can tell us about the local economy, the culture, phobias, law, the average workday life, it tells us about humanity's own state across the world. For example, the upsurge of craft as a hobby of interest in the past five or so years can easily be attributed to the 2019 Covid pandemic, where most of the population was physically isolated with not many activities to stimulate the mind available, such as sports or social calls. 

Handicrafts of South Asia is my opening to the wider conversation of what craft means to the individual and what culture means for craft. I find it important, now more than ever, to take the time to appreciate creativity and tangible craft as a means of identity and as a means of expression. 

One of the main products of this project was the collection of resources that are suitable for the project and beyond it. Although it went through the stages of curation, from amassing the resources to scanning for relevance to shortlisting at multiple points in the process to justifying each resource's place in the collection, this list is not exhaustive, whether because of the limitations of finding material in English to being locked out of critical papers via paywalls. It is not designed to be thorough, but rather to be a starting point for those who seek the knowledge, with readily-available material to read through and further resources to explore outside of the Library's collation. 

Of the resources newly purchased for the Library and this project, most are physical books such as 'From the land of the thunder dragon: textile arts of Bhutan' , which highlights the many traditions and practices shared across South Asia, from tools like the handloom to the geometric patterns in textiles. It remarks on those practices in beautiful detail, such as attributing the practice of presenting textiles as a type of gift, specifying exact measurements and materials for clothing and celebrating the way that Bhutanese culture is ingrained across the field. 

Another book newly available is '5000 Years of Arts and Crafts in India and Pakistan', which discusses all kinds of crafts within both India and Pakistan, lush with stunning works of craftsmanship and rich still with their history, both shared and separate, from sculpture to music and of course, to all the fields of handicraft. It details the rich and complex historical periods of the region, with comparisons to the contemporary, and the cultural evolution along the way! 

There are plenty of other resources also available, journal articles, videos and websites, all contributing towards a more insightful understanding of handicrafts across South Asia. 

Knowledge is crucial, but theory can only do so much in a world where reality is often unpredictable and sometimes, breaks the rules that we think we know. That is why I decided on delivering a workshop further along in the internship, as a means of bringing tangible craft to people in a fully accessible way, without the need to rummage for materials or tools and having an open space readily available for use. 

This workshop consisted of two main stations, one of which was small-scale block printing with custom blocks I designed and created using lino. Most of the blocks were small, each with a unique repeatable pattern to imitate how many print blocks are designed to create a repeating pattern. There was also a larger, two-part block, designed to be duo-toned, that was also repeatable and designed to imitate the multicoloured designs often seen in dresswear. 

The other station was a relaxed form of pottery, where attendees could use air-dry clay and a touch of water to form simple, miniature versions of common styles from Indian pottery, such as specific cooking pots or vases. One significant note on this station was the acceptance that whatever attendees created may not be perfect, and that should be internalised before even beginning to shape the clay. Whether they had used clay a hundred times before or have never touched it at all, the importance was not on how pretty the pottery looked or how perfect of an imitation it was.  

The point of this station, and of the block printing as well, was to enjoy the art of creating something with their own hands; to share in that joy with others who have used the same tools and ended up with a completely different result; to feel invigorated by the meditative motions of art and inspired to do it again.