Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Globally, we are faced with the two major challenges: climate change and unemployment. Technology has contributed to efficient productivity, but is also responsible for growing unemployment, falling incomes and has been the cause of inequality, ecological degradation, and increasing disparities. This paper explores the wisdom in looking towards the handcrafted sector, which is an eco-friendly means of production and inherently labour intensive with the possibility of creating a large number of dignified livelihoods. Heritage textiles in India continues to be a living tradition. The vast variety of textiles narrate the story of our indigenous design aesthetic and culture. Each region in India offers a wealth of unique skills, wide variety of textiles, which use diverse materials and methods. Since the last 40 years, I have been closely collaborating with artisanal clusters around the country to develop fabrics and clothing and I have been able to demonstrate that there is a viable market in urban centres for handcrafted textiles. Most places in the world today have lost their traditional hand skills. As the world talks about sustainable livelihoods, we stand at an advantage as artisans in India have not lost their ancestral hand-skills. We have the potential of creating handmade in India for the local, national and world markets.