Post quake, Kutch hobby develops into fine art: Kutch artisans dilemma, to open or not to open

Abstract

Just how much insularity should we build as some of our regions integrate with larger markets? Kutch is a classic case that seeks the right balance. Kutch – one of the largest districts of India – but home only to about two million people has fundamentally changed after the earthquake of 2001. It has got greater access and integration with the markets, more investments into the area and the general economy appears to be different. An interesting statistic – the decadal growth of population, which was between 20% and 25% from the 1971 census, seems to have shown a spurt to 32% in the decade of 2001-2010.

The significant products that could go out of Kutch were salt and handicrafts. There was an organised way in which salt from the Rann of Kutch was being procured and processed; the fish and agri-products were largely consumed locally.

NO GEOGRAPHIC IDENTITY

Handicrafts had a somewhat limited market access to the outside world, thanks largely to some NGOs working in that area. While Kutchi handicrafts were famous, there was little creative identity that was associated with the district. Or to use the language of patents or markets, Kutch did not seem to have a product that would fetch a Geographic Identity — unlike Tanjore for paintings or Kanjeevaram for silks. Kutchi embroidery for long was popularised by Gurjari, and like anything that gets popular and exotic, it had its own clones – machine-embroidered pieces as well as some cheap handicrafts that came from China! But that was not enough to threaten the livelihoods of the artisans.

The artisans of Kutch were and continue to be versatile than specialised. You would find leather workers making saddles for horses, jootis and bags. For instance, I visited a leather artisan Ramjibhai a few years. He was happy making one horse saddle a month to keep his livelihood going. He had a captive market in the district and anybody who owned a horse knew that saddles were made by Ramjibhai. No global analysis of counting the number of pet horses that could have ornate saddles and classifying it as a ‘sunset’ industry would threaten Ram- jibhai’s happiness. Rogan artists working with vegetable dyes and castor oil to produce the most intricate paintings: These artists have gotten smarter and significantly benefitted from the largesse offered by the postearthquake linkages with the outside world. A Rogan painting that had a maximum price tag of around .` 20,000 soon after the earthquake could now go on to 10 times that amount. But the artists are so few in number, almost one single family in Nirona. The Wadhas did their own lacquer ware straddling between shaping babool wood and also adding colour. Their market was somewhat limited because of the limited range of products they produced. Again, blissfully happy at brewing local liquor !

CLOSE TO GANDHIAN CONCEPT

The handloom weavers wove cotton, wool, acrylic and any other medium that was needed at a point and the cloth woven was adorned with Ajrakh prints or tie and dye Bandhani colours. It was a potpourri of art forms co-existing, without clustering or volumes to access the markets. If a Rabari needed a shawl, that would be woven with wool, a bedsheet of cotton and of late, even a mat is being woven out of waste plastic. Kutch was nearer to the Gandhian concept of village republic than any other place. In one sense, Kutch looked like an insulated piece of the country. Even now, reaching Kutch takes a day. Air connectivity is through a sole flight to Mumbai. There are a few trains as well, but the connectivity is no match in comparison to other economic clusters like Rajkot, Porbandar and Bhavnagar. Post the earthquake, significant investments have flown into Kutch. There are new industries. Adanis have invested in the Mundra port. Connectivity has improved. The handicraft market has got a exposure and access to the larger markets. These bring in some positives – the attention from outside has helped the local ‘hobby’ to develop into a fine art with inputs from designers.

The market for local craft is also opening up. The local Kala cotton is sought to be marketed as organic cotton. Something that remained traditional because the markets (fertilisers, pesticides) did not see as a lucrative region has turned out to be important due to the same markets – markets that provide a premium on organics. However, we need to see if these are large enough to convert Kutch into an organic cotton cluster. Kala cotton is short staple and has its limitations and only time can tell if this will open up a large market.

Artisans of Kutch were and continue to be more versatile than specialised. They have their own captive markets

The downside is that an economy that was insulated has got integrated with the larger economy. We see weavers wearing fake Reebok T Shirts and telling us that local ones are expensive to produce and maintain. The other downside is in opening up of employment opportunities because of the industrialisation of a handicraft belt. Unless the handicraft and handloom products are able to get significant premiums (because of markets) it would be lucrative for the weavers and artisans to get into factories as workers. Already, the younger generation is moving towards such employment – to be employed in the production process or even in the service sector as security guards. What Kutch raises is an important dilemma. Greater investments indeed create more jobs both in the core activity and the peripheral support activities. It provides livelihood support. The employment potential in Kutch has gone up. So, we need to agree with the people arguing for various types of investments that it creates jobs. But what is stark is the jobs it is indirectly killing. These jobs pertain to something mushy as art, culture and handicraft of Kutch. Like we retain heritage structures, we need to retain heritage occupations and heritage livelihoods. While opening the markets for heritage products, we have to ensure that they are supported and do not suffer a collateral damage. The question is how much insularity should we build as some of our regions integrate with the larger markets. There is need to check how the heritage could be retained. While a cluster of NGOs are doing the job, it needs a more concerted effort. Action is particularly needed in the art of handlooms. It would be a sad day to see talented artisans working as security guards outside large buildings. We certainly need to worry about the quality of employment that investments generate.