An artisan village, Surat, India : safeguarding the art & craft heritage of India

Abstract

This paper aims to strategise a comprehensive design, establishing a link between urban and rural sectors through preservation and revitalisation of the craft sector of India. The intent is to unite the various typologies of artisan crafts, scattered throughout the country, to build a community cherishing the Indian heritage: a place to practise, teach, demonstrate culture. With the aim of fostering this heritage community, the concept of crafts village has been selected as the cornerstone of this design. Thus, the sub-question: How to create an artist village, providing a platform for vocational training and retail, a mixed-use organic development, cherishing the Art and Craft heritage of India? Notwithstanding Industrialization, a large population of India still depend on long-established traditional methods of manufacturing using traditional techniques to earn a living based on handmade products. These craftspeople/artisans are the backbone of the non-farm rural economy of India. There is a crucial necessity for philanthropy to understand the potential to monetise the crafts sector by the financing of high impact scalable models that can sustainably strengthen livelihoods. By harnessing the potential of the craftsperson/artisan sector, the concept of artist village promotes forgotten values of art in the modern world and re-examines the role of architecture. An artisan village reinforces the upliftment of rural craftsmen/Artisans by providing them with a place to reside, practice and earn with their skills.