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we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective,
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mandir
bazaar leather kantha project We did this 3 year project (1989 to 1992) on behalf of an NGO in a small village near Diamond Harbor, West Bengal. The brief was to set up a training and production center to make leather and fabric bags. The trainees were women with no previous experience in either embroidery or in leatherwork. This was a unique design experience for us, because we could start the design process right from the very beginning. As the trainees acquired their skills we could guide the direction the final designs took. |
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dhokara
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The whole project was somewhat unorthodox, because in India most crafts are family oriented and passes on from parent to child from a very young age. It took years of apprenticeship to learn the craft fully. Also, traditionally women were not involved in leatherwork except for some decorative work. The trainers were craftspersons from some other village units. The end result was a range of bags and boxes for children. We used brightly colored canvas as the base material. Leather was used for edging, finishing, handles, bases, etc. Pockets and other focal points of each product were embroidered with bright pictures of animals and birds. In some of the smaller pouches we tried a new method of stitching using leather thongs which in it self was decorative. We also tried some minimalist construction for a range of simple bags and pouches for adults. Although all the leather came from the nearby city there were plans to set up a tannery using Eco-friendly chemicals. A leather technologist was involved in this side of the project. Mandir Bazaar is a sleepy little village and our workshop had no electricity or telephone. They unit was to be run as a co-operative with ownership and responsibility shared among all the trainees. It took a long time and effort to set this system up and there was a lot of disputes along the way. |
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