ByAditi Roy
April 18, 2020 (IANSlife) Handloom textiles and crafts hold a special place in India’s cultural heritage; weaving being a source of livelihood for millions of families. Nowhere in the world can so many diverse weaving techniques be found together in one country.
The crisis caused by COVID-19 has resulted in a sudden disruption of businesses across the globe and the Indian economy is not immune to this pandemic. Players across the spectrum have felt the effect of the resultant downturn. The handloom sector has, too, been severely affected as with all sectors in the economy with their traditional and contemporary markets for artisans being totally closed.
Prime hurdles that COVID-19 has caused resulting abrupt interruption to artisanal livelihoods
"Responding to the grim circumstances caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 in India, the Antaran initiative (An Initiative of Tata Trusts) has devised a user-friendly website to help artisans liquidate their stock on hand to take care of the immediate needs. Exquisite products from the Antaran led community initiatives across four states & six clusters-- Assam (Kamrup and Nalbari), Nagaland (Dimapur), Odisha (Gopalpur and Maniabandha) and Andhra Pradesh (Venkatgiri) are being offered by the Artisan Entrepreneurs at lower/wholesale prices. Customers are able to pay online immediately to the artisans, while the artisans pack the products for delivery as soon as lockdown is lifted,' says Sharda Gautam, Head (Crafts), Tata Trusts.
This would help bring in the much-needed cash flow for artisans entrepreneurs to support themselves and their associate artisans. A wide range of textiles as below are on offer on the site named as Antaran Artisan Connect as below:
What artisans want? Donation/Funding vs Generation of work... which of these is the artisan demanding at these trying times?
The wide segment of artisans of clusters have consensus in attributing their demand to a continued support from buyers and designers by placing advance orders and buying out their existing inventory of finished product rather than request for financial assistance.
This translates to a better margin in terms of cost efficiency for the buyers and faster cash generation for the weavers with stockpiles of finished materials. The artisans want to present a positive picture and the beauty of their crafts and bond with customers offering them value in exchange for their support. Antaran associated artisans are addressing the downturn due to COVID-19 by utilizing their time to improve their product catalogues, reorganise inventory and developing the online presence of their micro-enterprises, rounds up Gautam.
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Aditi Roy can be contacted at aditi.r@ians.in