Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya

KALA RAKSHA VIDHYALAYA:
AN INSTITUTION OF DESIGN FOR TRADITIONAL ARTISANS
In its second decade, Kala Raksha is addressing India’s most pressing need: Education. In October 2005, Kala Raksha launched a design school for working traditional artisans of Kutch. This educational institution, whose environment, curriculum and methodology are designed to be appropriate for traditional artisans, is intended to model a new approach to the rejuvenation of traditional arts. Project Director of KRV, Judy Frater, was awarded an Ashoka Foundation Fellowship to realize the project. In March 2009 she was also awarded the Sir Misha Black Medal for Distinguished Services to Design Education.

Concept of the Design School for Artisans
Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya is an educational institution with a direct marketing link, open to working artisans of Kutch, conservatively estimated at 50,000.  The focus of the school is on acquiring knowledge and skills that can be directly applied in the artisan’s own art to enable innovation appropriate to contemporary markets.

Rationale and Structure
Working artisans rarely have the luxury of leaving their home and profession for long periods of time.  Therefore, the curriculum is designed as a series of workshops which are conducted over a period of one year in a residential local setting.

Design Instruction and Institutional Links
Kala Raksha has well established links with premier Indian design institutions, including the National Institution of Design (NID), the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Srishti Design Institute, and the Indian Institute of Crafts & Design (IICD).  Faculty from NID and NIFT are advisors in establishing Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya.  In addition, Project Director Judy Frater mobilized a team including faculty from the Fashion Institute of Technology, NY, and the Rhode Island School of Design to develop the basic curriculum for Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya.
 
Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya is situated on 8 acres in Mundra Taluka, a peaceful rural setting near the coast of the Gulf of Kutch. A spacious guest house designed by Architect R. J. Vasavada, and craft studios and student hostels and exhibition hall designed by Architect Hemen Sanghvi today host the courses.

CAD Center
A Computer Aided Design Center is a vital part of the educational program.  Presently, this Center as well as a sampling studio are housed in the existing facilities.

Course Content and Development
Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya’s curriculum is a work in process. In its quest to insure the relevance of education specifically for traditional artisans, the institute observes impacts and innovates on content and structure of courses.  Revisions are also made to address the changing needs of the artisans and the ever developing market scenario. The year long course now has six intensive two week sessions: 1. Colour: Sourcing from Heritage and Nature, 2. Basic Design, Sourcing from Nature and Heritage, 3. Market Orientation, 4. Concept, Communication, Projects, 5. Finishing and Collection Development, 6. Presentation.  Together these form a comprehensive process in developing tradition-based products for contemporary markets.

Examples of innovations that have evolved in our four years of operation are the addition of a critical component of meeting craft consumers as well as visiting shops in a field trip to Ahmedabad, and equipping non-literate artisans with a language of visual symbols to analyze their experiences, transcending the lack of conventional literacy. 

In the finishing and presentation courses, mock juries of Kala Raksha staff and artisans’ relatives were added.  These prepare the students for their final professional jury, and engage family members in the students’ hard work.  In the third year, the problem of product design was addressed. Textile artisans cannot learn effective product design in a year. Yet, as product is supremely important, we sought a sustainable solution. Urban design school students were engaged, not to give designs to KRV students, but to be their clients. The artisan students presented their briefs and chose from concepts presented by the urban design students. The result was a range of new product designs, and the introduction of new perceptions in roles and abilities.

Male and female artisans attend courses separately, conforming to social norms. We have learned to appreciate and support the courage it takes for women to participate in the KRV course. The pressure against women’s education is great.

Visiting Faculty are design education professionals from India and abroad, and well prepared to work with traditional artisans. Students and Visiting Faculty reside together on the campus.  Course content is presented in the craft studios as well as classrooms, and the priority is always for artisans to implement theory in their respective media.  Students and faculty access Kala Raksha’s local resources: Master Artisans from our Advisory Board, the local natural surroundings, and Kala Raksha Center, where they study contemporary work in the shop and traditional pieces in the Kala Raksha Museum. Through the course, the students learn to critique and question. KRV is increasingly a place where learning is mutual. The wide range of ages in classes enables everyone to understand that there is no age limit for learning. The elders’ experience enables grasping new concepts, and the younger members learn of tradition from elders.

Each student works toward creating a final collection.  These are juried by a panel of eminent experts in craft. The Convocation Mela is a much anticipated three days of celebration, with over 6,000 people visiting the campus. This is a chance for the students to test their work on buyers and professionals in the field.  One student said it was worth another whole class.  At the same time KRV is educating artisans to become designers, the public must be educated about their creativity and capacity. The annual Convocation fashion show has motivated students, and has been an important instrument in educating the public to think about craft in other ways. 

As one student eloquently expressed his experiences, “When a visiting designer talked about giving designs to artisans and our teacher told her we are doing something completely different, I felt good. The importance of Kala Raksha is that it respects us as creative people. This will insure the perpetuation of our craft.” This fundamental change in awareness, self respect and confidence is cultural sustainability, which will insure the vibrancy of traditional art.

EVALUATION
An evaluation of the Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya program was conducted by Mr. Ashoke Chatterjee, President of Crafts Council of India and former Director, National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad.  The thorough analysis of the project has been the basis of development of a plan for scaling up the institute. A copy of the evaluation and scaling up plan are available on request.

 

DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNING MATERIALS

From the first class it became clear that to insure that the institution is successful in terms of its vision, guidelines in curriculum and syllabus development, as well as in methodology must be provided to the visiting faculty. A unit to teach fibers and structures has been produced. Efforts are now concentrated on developing material to elucidate the indigenous concepts of design and aesthetics, including indigenous vocabulary and means of assessing quality.

 

MARKET INPUT

Efforts in the development of the institute will also focus on establishing long lasting market links for graduates.  Kala Raksha will play a key role in this aspect of development, and plans to expand its Marketing Department to accommodate increased and varied production. This year, e-portfolios of graduate artisan designers will be added to the Kala Raksha website.

 

KRV FILM!

With generous funding from UNESCO and Eileen Fisher, Kala Raksha produced the film “Artisans Design!” documenting the first year of Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya. After two years of hard work, we have completed the project “The Masters’ Voices” a series of six short films on Master Artisans’ understanding design in traditional textiles, and a single summary film framed as a discussion among artisans of different crafts. The project was completed with support from Dorabji Tata Trust and Seagate.  The films present a poignant portrayal of traditions in transition, and a tribute to the creativity of the artisan. 

YEAR 5 AT KALA RAKSHA VIDHYALAYA

The fifth class of Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya began in January 2010. This year’s men’s and women’s classes are as ever filled with eager and talented textile artists.  By now we have completed four of six courses. 

 

The fourth course, Concept, Communication, Projects, is critical in taking artisans to a new level of conscious expression in their work. In the men’s session, conducted by Harini Chandrasekar, field trips to the natural corners of Kutch made a dramatic impact on the artsans’ capability to extend their work to evoke moods, textures and ideas.  The men learned to create theme boards, and worked in our studios to sketch out their concepts. The results were refreshingly new, and as always, delightfully diverse.

 

The women’s course, conducted by Smita Singh, mirrored the men’s.  The women studied current trends, and interpreted them in the context of their own lives.  They struggled to arrive at abstract portrayals.  A breakthrough came with a short exercise of choosing an object from nature and evoking it in embroidery.  Finally, and easily, they broke away from conventional symmetry.  They completed imaginative theme boards, also inspired by local field trips to mirrored temples, the night seashore and lotus ponds. 

 

KRV Impact

Continuing our assessment of KRV’s impact, Project Leader Dipam Joshi conducted an indepth survey of 50 of our 78 graduates to date.  He found that

  • 100% of the students are of the opinion that they have learned something new in their craft and are completely satisfied.

  • Nearly 34% who have gotten employment have become independent because of Kala Raksha and the learning they received at Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya.

  • 14% have increased their income by 50%.

  • 20% have doubled their income.

  • 4% have raised their income by five times.

  • 4% have raised their income by ten times.

  • 1% have raised their earning by twenty times.

  • 28% of students are recent graduates from Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya and are hopeful for the future and about to start something new soon.

  • 20% to 25% have started working on their own instead of doing job work.

  • Nearly 50% to 60% have come in contact with and begun collaboration with other NGOs and Clients through Kala Raksha.

Some excerpts from interviews with KRV graduates follow:

 

Lachhuben Raja- “After studying at KRV it seems to me that I have stepped in to new world, where I myself make new designs and prepare design as per the demand, the seasons and the place of course.”

 

Tejuben- “Stepping into KRV, we started using our brains.”

 

Halimabai- “I find a difference in my past work and present work. Earlier we got threads and fabrics and did the embroidery any way. In the class we learned many things and the Ahmedabad visit was an amazing experience of my life,”

 

Varsha P- “I have come out of my shell through Kala Raksha. Earlier I was too shy to speak and now I can address a large audience.”

 

Hariyaben- “Coming to Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya, I not only learned but also got involved in the process of teaching. I observed the teaching process and for six months afterwards ran classes to guide artisans to make new designs in Suf.”

 

Murjibhai- “It was a challenge for us to do something new in our craft.  We needed so many changes and were at the edge to demise, but KRV appeared as a lighthouse for a derelict ship. Earlier we were afraid of what would happen with our craft and livelihood.  But now all the fears have gone forever. We make new designs, new products and have received good markets.”

 

Ramjibhai- “My weaving earned me only Rs. 2000 or 2500 per month and I was going to stop weaving and join a factory to earn at least Rs. 3000 to 4000 per month, but suddenly KRV gave me an opportunity and not only my art but also my life survived…We wove just by copying others; we didn’t know the term “market,” and “costing” was something strange to us.  Now we prepare products looking to the needs of the customers, seasons and even the country to which they belong.”

 

Sohel- "The concept of my craft and my mind set are completely changed.”

 

Aziz- “Earlier we were afraid to take risks in our craft and when I came to Kala Raksha, in the beginning I thought KRV people will starve us if I follow them and their ideas. But suddenly in the marketing course I learned everything gradually and understood the depth of business and now I am quite happy to have studied at Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya.After I completed my graduation I started implementing new ideas and my brother, father and other people laughed at me. But when I received a good response in the market after a short period, everyone started appreciating me and we sent my brother to KRV so that he can also help me doing new things.”

 

Suleman- “We knew only 10% of our craft and learned 90% from Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya.KRV has not taught us the technique of our art, yet we received exposure there and suddenly we got inspired from KRV and started doing new things.  Before, we did job work most of the time and they worked for only two or three months a year.  Now we work on our own throughout the year.  We can create fifty designs out of a single object and out of fifty, five will be sold at extempore and the other forty five would be well received in the near future. And out of our twenty samples, customers would pick up fifteen on the spot and the other five soon after.”

 

Rajesh- “The most important thing I have learned from Kala Raksha is love for my craft.”

THE FUTURE OF KRV

KRV is truly an institution now with a life of its own.  However, in spite of our resounding success, we struggle to make ends meet.  The location of our physical structure may have to change due to construction of two massive coal fed thermal power plants in extremely close proximity. Living in limbo for several years has taken a toll on expansion of our dreams. And observing the shrinking natural environment makes the campus seem a vulnerable haven. Relocation will incur huge costs in terms of money, time and spiritual energy.

 

As we gather forces for the changes ahead, we look to our supporters to help us.  With your support, KRV will reach new heights in the value of Artisan Design!

 

For further information, contact designschool@kala-raksha.org or judyf@kala-raksha.org