NCERT Class 12 Heritage Crafts Craft Tradition Of India The Crafts Community Today

DESPITE all the government schemes and policies, and the efforts of non-government and government agencies, the condition of crafts in India is far from desirable. From the swift diminishing of raw materials or the natural resources that the craftsperson is dependent on to practise his/her craft to the limited capital available to him/her to invest in the expansion or even just the maintenance of his business; to the hrinking marketplace—increasingly flooded with inexpensive factory-made fabric, Chinese toys, plastic mats or stainless steel ghadas, the craftsman’s economic situation has become increasingly precarious over the past 100 years.

This chapter analyses the reasons why the condition and the status of the crafts community today is so poor.

 

 

The first reason for the poor status of the crafts community lies in our understanding of crafts and the role of crafts in our society. How do people view the craftsperson: Is he an artist or merely a labourer? Was the Taj Mahal built by an artist or by the crafts community? Is craft mainly manual work or is it a skill-based activity that brings together the hand, the head and the heart? The attitude today towards crafts and the crafts community is the first stumbling block hindering the progress of crafts in India.