NATIONAL WEAVERS OF KUTCH CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

A National webinar on NATIONAL WEAVERS of KUTCH was held on 7th August, 2020 from 2 to 3.30pm, National handloom day, by the Department of Textile and Fashion Technology of College Home Science, Nirmala Niketan, Affiliated to University of Mumbai, NAAC Accredited A Grade. Delegates included students, teachers, professionals, craft lovers, artisans and others related to this field at National and International level.

- Dr Ela Dedhia

Dr. Ela Dedhia, Head of Department of Textile and Fashion Technology, gave an overview of the theme. She said that it is the correct and a very important time to understand the present condition of Indian craftsmen during this Covid 19 times. India is a treasure of very rich crafts. Craft and craftspeople (artisans) have always been the life line of India. There are thousands of craft persons and their entire families are dependent on their livelihood on these crafts. During this tough period of pandemic era our artisans are struggling for their daily basic necessities. So this is the right time to discuss and understand what is the present scenario and their future and how to take this further in this era. Connecting artisans directly to potential customers, entrepreneurs and other field related professionals who can help the weavers through purchases or otherwise was also the objective of the webinar.

Dr Dedhia moderated the session including the questions raised by participants on YouTube.