NEW DELHI – 20th OCTOBER 2022 The fourth edition of India craft week being held concurrently from 20th-24th October 2022, was inaugurated by Padmabhusan Rajeev Sethi & Jaya Jaitly on 20th October, 2022 at Okhla NSIC Ground, New Delhi in the august presence of, Iti Tyagi, Founder India Craft Week, Somesh Singh- Co-Founder, Craft Village, Manish Saksena, Lead, Aadyam handwoven, CS Sudheer, CEO, Freedom.com, Padmashri Jai Prakash and many others. This year’s edition is dedicated to Craftspeople of India, who have tirelessly worked to ‘Protect, Preserve & Revive’ thousands of years old Arts, Crafts, Textiles, Culture, and Heritage. It is a tribute as a part of India@75 Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
‘4th India Craft Week is very special as the show since inception is growing manifolds, it has also built an ‘Ecosystem’ for the domestic market, where dynasty Artisans, Craft Entrepreneurs, Luxury Brand in Hand-Made, Organizations, Institutions can all come on a single platform and exchange products and ideas with National and International Buyers, Retailers, Brands and End Consumers.
The agenda is to create synergy amongst all the stakeholders, and to build a new imagery to Traditional Crafts of India on global platform, which is ‘Very Niche’ & ‘Luxurious’ commanding better imagery and upvalue of age-old crafts.
The business show is professionally curated on the principles of 4P’s (Product, Price, Packaging & Presentation), and helps large artisans’ community to get medium to large scale orders from domestic & international buyers directly (B2B, B2C & D2C) without any middlemen’ says Iti Tyagi, Founder, India Craft Week
The First day saw the Launch of 'Trend Loom', a trend research book curated and created jointly by ICW and Aadyam Handwoven, a CSR of Aditya Birla Group. ICW also organised Symposium on Craft Tech: Role of Technology in rapidly expanding Craft Sector, Workshops on Molela Clay Art & Phad Painting.
India Craft Week will also host the 5th and 6th edition International Craft Awards (also known as the Academy Awards of Crafts) to recognise and celebrate outstanding accomplishments by the global Craft Community. The winners from more than eight countries will be honored at the ICA ceremony.
Especially post CoVid, we have to find new mantra, economic ideology has to be replaced by creative ecology, culture will influence that, making, & doing and being, the village public will rise with technology, and finally Dadi will become the prophet. The future will require smart new subsets in the skill sets, the hand, body, eye, and spirit would reign supreme, so everything would have to be tested against Soil, Soul and Society. And the Craft Sector instead of calling it an unorganized sector, needs to be termed as self-organized sector, and traditional knowledge will have an edge in the world that demands sustainable, circular and organic life and products” says Rajeev Sethi, Founder of Asian Heritage Foundation.
“Technology has helped us a lot, artisans even as basic as WhatsApp Groups has been able to realize commerce simply and effectively, and with personal Instagram, Facebook and other social media, their art is reaching everywhere. So, a lot of things have changed post CoVid the way demand and supply works, and artisans are also getting used to these new tools and technology, we have to be adaptive to future, but without losing the real essence of crafts. And the next decade is very crucial for its survival, revival and adaptation of indigenous crafts when e-com, D2C and such channels are redefining conventional businesses” adds Jaya Jaitley, Founder of Dastkari Haat Samiti and Craft Activist.
“The upcoming bigger, better but most importantly more conscious edit of the India Craft week is a pleasure to be a part of. In anticipation and excitement for the four-day festival that is going to be the most wholistic round up of celebrating the entire Craft-Ecospace” adds Manish Saksena, Lead, Aadyam handwoven.
“Global handicrafts market is worth over USD 1 trillion but currently the total value of export of handicrafts from India is less than USD 5 billion. India must grab this opportunity immediately and this is possible only by training aspiring artisans to create better work & connecting them to global marketplace. I believe India Crafts Week will make a significant contribution in achieving this mission” adds CS Sudheer, CEO, Freedom.com.
Background of the event
India Craft Week (ICW) was established in 2018 by Craft Village, a National Entity of World Crafts Council, an apex body of Crafts in the world, as a business platform that showcases the finest & rarest ‘Handmade and Handcrafted Objects’ of India.
India Craft Week is India’s official and World’s 2nd largest Craft Week. It is the only platform in India to bring Artisan, Designer, & Luxury Brand on a single platform. Artisans were never exposed to the upper segment of market directly, ICW gives trade as well thought leadership opportunity to hundreds of participating Artisans (participation is FOC and Craft Village doesn’t charge a single rupee commission on sale & orders).
The initiative was started to give a boost to honourable PM's theme 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' with the special focus on 'languishing crafts of India', and 'rare traditions' that are least known to the world.
Therefore, India Craft Week’s tagline 'Good Stories Untold' is a constant endeavor to bring less known crafting tradition to the world and share their stories of Hand-Made in India. Be it Rogan Art, Camel Belt Braiding, Lotus Silk, Chamba Rumaal, Kharad Weaving, ICW has helped Indian crafts found their dignity and mention at the world stage.
ICW became India's most prestigious ‘Hand-Made’ show for 'Artisans & Makers' attended by the global visitors wanting to explore finest made objects. In 2019, India Craft Week Preview in association with London Craft Week created a global benchmark for Indian Craftsmanship to be amongst world’s most prestigious ‘Crafted Brands’ like Vivienne Westwood, Purdey, Rolls Royce, Mont Blanc, Ermenegildo Zegna, Burberry, Italian Trade Agency, V&A, William Morris, and many others showcasing rare, exclusive & crafted products. The show was inaugurated by Honourable Indian High Commissioner at the Nehru Centre; London and attended by the Global Visitors.
ICW brings on-board Award-Winning Masters from across the country and helps connect with eminent Buyers, Patrons, and thousands of global visitors. The endeavour is to build a ‘Craft Ecosystem” and a ‘Business Show’ that would help Artisans, Brands, Labels & Organizations working for Handloom and Handicrafts Sector to showcase what they are doing to preserve and promote India’s timeless Heritage and Culture.
The last editions of ICW were inaugurated by Honourable Minister for Women and Child, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi Ji, Honourable Minister for Tribal Affair, Shri Arjun Munda Ji, Shri Vinay Sahasrabuddhe Ji, Member of Parliament and President, ICCR, Mr Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India amongst Secretary, Joint Secretaries from various ministries and esteemed members from embassies and industry attending this august gathering.
The event is a great promoter of ‘Vocalforlocal’, ‘Aatmnirbhar bharat’ and ‘Make in India’, our Craft Sector helps in bringing ‘new insights’ and ‘innovative ideas’ to the world and industry at large. It has also helped India’s second-largest employment providing sector & ODOP’s to bring insights and knowledge of thousands of years of Skills and Sustainable Practice at one platform.
About Craft Village
Craft Village, an outgrowth organization of the World Craft Council, has built India’s only craft ecosystem by bringing traditional and contemporary artisans, craftspersons, artists, brands, and individual makers to share a common platform and love for handmade. It has created India's unique craft ecosystem by bringing together ancient and modern craftsmen, craftspeople, artists, brands, and individual makers on a single platform and fostering a love for the handmade.
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