The Danish Art Workshops and All India Artisans & Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA) anchor an exchange program between five Danish artists and five Indian Master Artisans
With a vision to promote & strengthen bilateral relations, between India & Denmark the Ambassador of Denmark to India, His Excellency Mr. Freddy Svane today launched the TEXTILE MASTER PROGRAM anchored between All India Artisans And Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA) and The Danish Art Workshops (Denmark). This is part of the ongoing Cultural Exchange Program between Denmark and India.
Spread through 2023, the program will be flagged off in early 2023 when five Danish artists and designers will travel to India to work with five Indian textile masters. Together they will explore Indian textile crafts including Hand Block Print, Hand Appliqué, Bandhani Tie and Dye, Kantha Stitch Embroidery, and Ikat Weaving. In the autumn of 2023, the Indian Master Craftsmen will travel to Denmark to conduct workshops for Danish artists, hosted by The Danish Arts Workshops, Copenhagen.
“Happy to announce – Textile Master Program between India and Denmark. This program will strengthen the collaboration between Danish and Indian Textile designers, also it will highlight the value of craftsmanship within textile and design’’, says H.E. Freddy Svane Danish Ambassador to India.
Supported by the Ministry of Culture, Denmark, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, in partnership with All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA) and Danish Art Workshops, the program reiterates the two government’s belief that there are many complimentary cultural bastions between the two nations that can be enhanced through such exchanges. The program also echoes the need to encourage exchange in the fields of design and crafts with special attention to traditional craftsmanship and sustainability. Value craftsmanship and the need to preserve what is rare and near extinction are yet another need of the hour.
Mr. Frederik Hardvendel, Director, of Danish Art Workshops adds, “This collaboration gives both artists and institutions an opportunity to celebrate and explore the skill, tradition, and beauty of Indian textile crafts. It is important to keep handmade crafts alive and to continue to explore the techniques and materials that over so many generations have provided inspiration for Western design and handicrafts. We at the Danish Art Workshops are really looking forward to welcoming the Indian textile masters to Denmark in the autumn of 2023, to further the collaboration and promote the crafts.”
AIACA, the apex body for the Indian Handicraft and Handloom Sector, has carefully selected the five artisans who are known for their refinement of the craft. They have also have strived hard to keep the selection eclectic and representative of India’s diverse textile traditions. Meenu Chopra, Executive Director, All India Artisans And Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA) shares, “AIACA is elated with this collaboration, which will celebrate the skills of our Master artisans and promote the traditions of the fascinating and vibrant Indian textile crafts, passed down through generations by our skilled artisans. We are confident that this programme will greatly benefit the artists and will lead to an exchange of ideas and traditions. AIACA is excited to welcome the Danish artists and provide them with a valuable learning experience”
Overwhelmed with this unique opportunity, artists from both sides look forward to getting truly inspired through 2023.
THE ARTISTS:
HAND BLOCK PRINTING:
Khushiram Pandey with Danish artist, Anne Fabricius Møller.
Khushiram Pandey is a fifth-generation block printing artisan and designer from Chhipa Community Sanganer. Anne Fabricius Møller from Denmark, is an esteemed textile designer, who has worked extensively with block print in alternative ways. She is a.o. the recipient of the Danish Arts Foundation’s Honorary Award and dreams of making real block prints on textile material.
HAND APPLIQUE:
Gaurav Choudhary and Begitte Lynge Andersen.
Gaurav Choudhary is a Master artisan in Applique work, with 8 years of experience in training artisans in the Craft and Begitte LyngeAndersen from Denmark is a textile designer with years of experience, Brigitte operates within the hand-crafted field, with mainly screen printing as a focal point but has integrated techniques.
BANDHANI TIE AND DYE
\Adil Mustak Khatri with Katrine Hoff.
Adil Mustak Khatri is a fourth-generation artisan who revived his family tradition in Bandhani and Katrine Hoff is a Danish visual artist who finds the ancient knowledge and craftsmanship within the world of textiles extremely fascinating.
KANTHA STITCH EMBROIDERY:
Indian master Mahamaya Sikdar with Sarah Brunnhuber.
Smt. Mahamaya Sikdar is a two-time National Award winner who feels Kantha is more about storytelling that she ‘lives and breaths’ every single day and Sarah Brunnhuber from Denmark, is a textile designer and weaver, determined to bring value to the production process and making the fashion and textile industry a less wasteful one.
IKAT WEAVING:
Radhe Shayam Meher and Anna Bruun Kristiansen
Radhe Shyam Meher is a third-generation artisan who revived his family tradition in Ikat Weaving and Anna from Denmark is a textile designer and weaver educated at Kolding Design School. Her work is centered around the loom and creating textiles for a spatial context.
About AIACA
“AIACA (The All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association) is an apex body that has been working on a range of issues, since 2004, to promote market-led growth for the crafts sector and increased incomes and improved living standards of crafts producers. AIACA has worked with more than 2,00,000 Artisans and is still counting (www.aiacaonline.org). Craftmark is the only national certification program for genuine Indian handcrafted products, produced in a socially responsible manner. It is awarded by AIACA and is registered with the Trademarks Authority of India as a Business Trademark. It certifies individual craft processes as being handmade. AIACA licenses the use of the Craftmark to artisan organizations, craft-based businesses, cooperatives or NGOs for use on their products. Craftmark has 250 members till date and covered more than 173 crafts (www.craftmark.org)”
