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Letter from Underground Image credits: Express photo by Nirmal Harindran “New times demand new measures and new men”, I woke up often these past few months, not just from the delusional reverie of a deep sleep, but also from the perfectly alive surroundings of a cautiously breathing consciousness to these James Russell words, reverberating in my mind, resonating with my thoughts, summarizing so surprisingly the mood of entire humanity. The eerie emptiness of loved cities, […]

Arayish – Training for conservation of built heritage India’s rich cultural heritage and centuries of evolutionary traditions is manifested by the huge variety of Art, craft, Architecture and cultural objects it possesses. One of the best examples showcasing the cohesive coexistence of these forms can be witnessed in the Shekhawati havelis of Rajasthan. Home to the marwari merchant community, shekhawati was once upon a time a major trade center. These traders in a bid to […]

Parul Agarwal Not many years ago Parul’s love for creativity brought her to IICD, from where she graduated in 2018. Her course of Fired Material design inculcated in her a social sensitivity and skilled passion for this ancient branch of Indian crafts, that has beautifully crossed over into the modern. Hailing from Azamgarh Uttar Pradesh, she grew up surrounded by Black Pottery. On her trips back home from college she would spend her holidays interacting […]

Light Enhances Shadows Backlight enhances the silhouette of shadow play – a drama scripted and enacted with shadow puppets created by IICD students of the PG Foundation. October 2nd, 2019 on the occasion of 150th birth centenary of Mahatma Gandhi, a shadow puppet show – ‘Katre Katre me base Bapu’ was performed by IICD students at JKK, Jaipur. Vipin Viswanath who comes from a traditional puppeteer family from Kerala facilitated the technique of puppet-making. The […]

As you know, India is a diverse country by religion, languages, food, traditions, crafts, and others. It is believed that in India every 10 km, the taste of water and language changes. Similarly, the Indian pottery traditions are varied because of the geographical locations. Every place has a unique quality of locally available clay which is commonly known as ‘terracotta clay’. Hence, one can see different types of crafts in terms of size, color, scale, […]

Today more than any other time in the history of humankind, there is a dire need for societal change. The over-exploited Earth is reeling under pressure caused by the greed of humans. Unless humanity practices sustainability, it will be a challenging situation to handle in the future. However, nature tends to repair itself, in the form of natural calamities that may be disastrous for all. Fortunately, there has been a paradigm shift, and the zeitgeist […]

Kani Weaving Craft from Charismatic Kashmir Kani weaving is a centuries-old craft practiced by skilled craftsmen who have learned it from their forefathers. Kani shawl hand-weaving is the exquisite craft of Kashmir in which delicate and intricate designs are woven with extreme care and skill. Kani shawl is made from fine Pashmina wool that makes it quite soft, light-weight and warm. The craft is practiced over the entire Kashmir from past generations, and the government […]

‘Patwa’ was derived from the Hindi word ‘pat’ meaning silk and people involved in the silk and cotton thread work are called ‘Patwa’. Verbal records state that Patwas originate from the heart of Lord Vishnu. In mythology there is a story which tells that at the time of the wedding ceremony of Lord Shankar and Parvati, there was no priest to perform the ceremony. A couple emerged from Vishnu’s chest and the male performed the […]

IICD is currently hosting to Dr. Mojgan Jahanara from Iran. A Ph.D. in Design theory and visual communication from Kobe Design University, Japan, she is serving as a visiting faculty at Indian Institute of Crafts & Design. She has also been associated as a visiting faculty with the design program of IIT Kanpur. She is an esteemed researcher at the Research Institute of Asian Design RIAD, Kobe Design University, Japan; and has been a fellow […]