Gita Ram, Chairperson, The Craft Council of India on #HandmadeDilSe telethon:
Artsians have always been dependent on bazaars and haat to sell their art. Pandemic started in April and lot of them sat ideal. Some got work and did amazing paintings. But it has been very bad. When we offered to help their business back with our funds, they didn't want it. They said, 'do something about our stock sitting with us.'
We have to do something about marketing. Bazaars are not going to happen otherwise. Volunteers have come forward, helping artisans photograph their products, create e-catalogues, helping them connect to e-commerce. A lot of it is working. It hasn't been easy as not every artisan has smartphone. It will take time. We are all surging ahead. Habba initiative has brought a silver lining to heavy clouds. As we were preparing hampers for Habba, we had to reach out to artisans for more products, they were thrilled.
It is about marketing. For handlooms, railways can start using handloom. Schools and colleges can say wear handloom once a month. Offices in Odisha wear handloom every Friday. Initiatives like these have to come. With craft it is little more difficult. Crafts were part of our daily life earlier. We are trying to bring it back. We are working with artisans to bring product that fits our contemporary lifestyle.
