Building access to quality, eco-socio conscious handloom products
Creating a bridge between consumers and artisans
Mumbai, NFAPost: Antaran, an initiative of Tata Trusts, has curated an exclusive new collection of handloom products made by select Artisan Entrepreneurs nurtured under the initiative.
This collection, intended for the coming festive season is available through the platform,www.antaranartisanconnect.in. The participating artisans are from six hidden and lesser-known clusters of India with a rich history of cultural weaves and local handwoven textiles.
More than 2000 textile pieces handwoven in an array of colours and designs representing six diverse heritage weave techniques are being featured on the platform as a part of its inaugural Artisan-led Design collection.
Products in this new collection range from sarees, stoles, dupattas & fabrics (for men & women) and home furnishings such as cushion covers, table runners and placemats in cotton and varieties of silk such as Eri, Muga and Tussar. Key features of the textiles are natural fibres, ecofriendly or natural dyes, blends of handspun, mill spun yarns handwoven to create beautiful masterpieces with a design focus.
Community initiative
Antaran’s community initiatives run across four states and six clusters of Assam (Kamrup and Nalbari), Nagaland (Dimapur), Odisha (Gopalpur and Maniabandha) and Andhra Pradesh (Venkatgiri).
Through this platform, Antaran promotes exquisite textiles of lesser known handloom regions in India. Visitors to the site are able to directly access a wide variety of high quality, local, environmentally and socially conscious products from skilled artisans; while trade buyers and designers are able to establish long-term business relationships with them with facilitation support from a team of professionals as part of the initiative
Speaking about the latest collection, Tata Trusts Head of Crafts Sharda Gautam said during these challenging times, small craft producers are possibly amongst the worst hit.
“However, it is encouraging to see 600 artisans, linked to 70 microenterprises, maintaining their creative spirits, as they design and develop beautiful textiles for the coming festive season, with the hope to spark joy and keep their craft alive,” said Tata Trusts Head of Crafts Sharda Gautam.
Tata Trusts Head of Crafts Sharda Gautam said the collection encapsulates the artistry and skill of the weavers while offering consumers the rare opportunity of direct interaction at a fair and transparent price point.
Artisan entrepreneurs
The platform which was set up to support Artisan Entrepreneurs by selling their stock at the start of the lockdown proved to be a huge success in its first phase. It attracted patrons from across India and abroad as far as The US, Canada, The UK and Singapore.
The unique offering of personal contact with these artisans made for an altogether unique buying experience. Allowing customers, a rare firsthand view of the industry, the true charm of handwoven textiles and the lives of our artisan entrepreneurs.
Antaran, an initiative by Tata Trusts to bring seminal changes in craft development, beginning with the Handloom sector, is designed to transform traditional crafts through a multidimensional approach for technical, design, enterprise and market development interventions to strengthen craft based livelihoods.
Antaran creates awareness about the rich heritage of Indian handloom and handicrafts, bring due recognition and returns to traditional artisans for their unique skills through a five-year program through Incubation and Design Centres for handloom development in select lesser-known clusters of Assam, Nagaland, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
Business development
These Centres works as education and business development hubs for artisans, enabling them to be designer-weavers and build a community of micro-entrepreneurs across the handloom value chain in each region.
Since inception in 1892, India’s oldest philanthropic organisation Tata Trusts has played a pioneering role in bringing about an enduring difference in the lives of the communities it serves.
Guided by the principles and the vision of proactive philanthropy of the Founder, Jamsetji Tata, the Trusts’ purpose is to catalyse development in the areas of health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, livelihood, digital transformation, migration and urban habitat, social justice and inclusion, environment and energy, skill development, sports, and arts and culture.
The Trusts’ programmes, achieved through direct implementation, partnerships and grant making, are marked by innovations, relevant to the country.
