Project Title: Surviving modernism- Investigating modernity in local craft narratives

Superviser: Prof U. A. Athavankar

Craft production- the main stay of the pre-industrial economy, was related to smaller local contexts of design needs and attributes, until it was replaced by the Fordian system in the west and Nehruvian socialism in India. With the beginning of mass production, smaller units were rendered obsolete, giving way to a new globalised design culture which spoke of world culture and not local culture. Inspite of the diminishing markets, rising production costs and constantly changing consumer tastes, pockets of local narratives have survived.How do these local narratives position themselves against the all encompassing tendencies of modernism? Have they become subservient, aggressive or assimilative? The research assumes that there is a mutual give and take between the modernist tendencies and those of craft inspite of the apparent contradictions in these knowledge domains. Craft production is a traditional process of design innovation that has survived centuries of cultural onslaughts through assimilation and integration. The tunic, belt
and trousers of devotees of the Buddha and the Bodhisatva are assimilations of the Greek and Roman culture under the Greco-Bactrian rule. The arabesque on the Brassware of Moradabad is a reminiscent of Mughal rule, which forbade the depiction of any human body as idolatry. Though, it is interesting to see human figures emerging in the narratives of this cluster through the Muslim engravers themselves today. Constant invasions and changing patronage had made aassimilation as a strategy of survival for the crafts and the craftsmen.During this process of assimilation, the crafts have actively adapted themselves to changing tastes and market criteria. This adaptation has fuelled innovation from time to time and has helped the crafts to contextualize themselves to their times. If modernity is the process of being with ones time, then the crafts have successfully been modern through all epochs. Modernity for each epoch has to be defined, as the study would show different parameters for every age. The research assumes the need to define modernity for Indian crafts for today’s time and examine parameters for evaluating the same.

Contact details:
Industrial Design Centre,
IIT Bombay ,
Powai, Mumbai 400076

Telephone:
091-022-25767812

E-mail: kppatil[at]iitk.ac.in

Address: