In line with the current government’s vision of ‘Minimum Government and Maximum Governance’, The All India Handloom Board and The All India Handicrafts Board were scrapped on July 27, 2020 just a few days before the National Handloom Day on August 7th when India’s artisan communities had been reeling under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now khadi MSMEs introduce footwear even as KVIC eyes capturing Rs 5,000 crore market

FE Online | 21 Oct 2020

After apparels, masks, food items, personal care products, and more, Khadi MSMEs have now introduced the khadi fabric footwear under Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). “By developing and marketing such products overseas, Khadi India can capture a market worth Rs 5,000 crore,” says MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari

Virat Kohli as Togalu Gombeyaata, Dhoni as Bommalattam: This studio is giving IPL stars a traditional makeover

Avantika Chopra, Indian Express | 13 Oct 2020

Fusing traditional arts of different states of India with their respective cricket players and IPL teams, a Bengaluru-based creative studio has come up with an interesting collection of folk-art posters.

Behind the new rules for NGOs to get foreign funds, a clear political message – fall in line

Amitabh Behar, Scroll.in | 24 Sep 2020

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020 passed recently will have far-reaching consequences on the fields of education, health, people’s livelihoods, gender justice and indeed democracy in India.

India's handloom, handicraft sectors have resilience to combat COVID-19 crisis setbacks. But they need calculated support

Joshua Muyiwa, Firstpost | 1 Jul 2020

We need to shift from pro-industry to pro-crafts. We need to swap the sob stories and see the ways in which these small-scale craft industries are environmentally-friendly, sustainable practices that use resources from around their regions and invest in them.

Teen to host global video game tourney to help local artisans

Farheen Hussain, Times of India | 30 May 2020

When Rajiv Govind, 15, got to know that a Tanjore gold leaf painter in Bengaluru had supplies but no orders to survive during the Covid-19 pandemic, the boy decided to do something so that hundreds of artisans like him wouldn’t suffer.

Hit by corona lockdown, here's how craftsmen are struggling to survive

IndiaToday.in | 25 May 2020

This episode of Info Corona focuses on the struggles of craftspeople across the country. Watch artisans share their stories and experts talk about what needs to be done.

Indian Handicrafts: 7 product designers dedicated to the cause of ‘handmade’

Devyani Jayakar, Architectural Digest | 16 May 2020

Vaishali Shadangule, Chandan Dubey, Ranjan Bordoloi, Sandeep Sangaru, Bandana Jain and Ayush Kasliwal throw light on what makes Indian handicrafts so special.

Gods in face masks: India's folk artists take on Covid-19

Sudha G Tilak, BBC.com | 2 May 2020

India's prominent folk artists have released a series of paintings to spread the message of social distancing and hygiene to prevent the spreading of coronavirus.

With no sales, the crafts sector, one of the biggest source of employment in rural India, is hit hard

Divya A, Indian Express | 26 Apr 2020

Just like migrant workers, artisans are also daily workers, and since all markets are shut, they can neither buy raw material, nor sell finished goods. They don’t even have a safety net like provident fund,” says Delhi-based craft revivalist Laila Tyabji of Dastkar.

Silence of the looms: Social enterprises look for ways to revive the handloom sector post lockdown.

Sangeeta Devi Dundoo, The Hindu | 21 Apr 2020

Amid the lockdown and pause in sales, as weavers and craftspeople are left with little or no work, craft organisations call for long-term solutions to revive the handloom sector.

Varanasi’s Muslim weavers face worsening economic crisis and discrimination during lockdown.

Sunil Kashyap, Caravan Magazine | 16 Apr 2020

“Difficulties in earning a livelihood existed earlier as well, but now a religious and social angle has also emerged…In Varanasi, ration in the form of a ‘Modi Kit’ is being distributed, but it is being given only to Hindus, not to the weavers here,” .

Textile sector poised to weave out of China, but can India spin a success yarn?

Avantika Chopra, Indian Express | 13 Oct 2020

Experts across the textile industry were unanimous that an embargo on Chinese textiles and apparel imports would augur well for the Indian textile industry since China has been dumping a lot of their products into the country at dirt cheap prices.

Handicapping the Handicrafts

Urmi Chanda, Culture Wire | 15 Sep 2020

Culture Wire speaks to experts to understand the consequences of the Ministry of Textiles’ decision to abolish the All India Handloom and Handicrafts Boards, along with the powerloom, wool, jute and silk boards.

The Coronavirus Cloud Has a Potential Silver Lining for the Indian Crafts Sector.

Laila Tyabji, The Wire | 6 Jun 2020

With the crafts sector in dire straits since the start of the lockdown, many have realised that the way we market craft has to change and are ideating about how to move ahead.

Locked Inside Their Native Homes, Local Artisans Suffer Same Fate As Migrant Workers

Vanita Bhatnagar, The Logical Indian | 30 May 2020

As per an initial estimate by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) the handicraft sector could suffer a loss of ₹8000‐₹10,000 crores in the wake of the pandemic.

Luxury Brands Have a ‘Respect Deficit’ with Indian Artisans.

Phyllida Jay, Business of Fashion | 18 May 2020

Brand leaders who claim that craft is the lifeblood of luxury should see worker welfare as a moral duty that aligns with their strategic business interests. But protecting the valuable skills of Indian artisans is not the same as valuing the artisans themselves.

6.8 crore women in self-help groups join fight against covid-19

Seethalakshmi S & Rahul Nandan, Livemint | 4 May 2020

These women are making facemasks, running community kitchens, delivering essential supplies, sensitising people. Kudumbashree, one of the world’s largest networks of women, was the earliest to mass produce masks.

Pandemic spins a new avatar for Assam’s eri silk: face masks

Tora Agarwala, Indian Express | 27 April 2020

Textile experts believe that Assam’s eri silk could be a worthy candidate for medical textile

Stand up for craftspeople: how to support India’s artisan community during the COVID-19 crisis

Laila Tyabji, The Hindu | 24 April 2020

Locked out of their livelihoods, they are in need of unusual solutions and the united efforts of the government, craft organisations and designers

COVID-19: Weaving threads of hope in the times of Coronavirus

Indo Asian News Service, Hindustan Times | 19 April 2020

The crisis caused by COVID-19 has resulted in a sudden disruption of businesses across the globe and the Indian economy is not immune to this pandemic. The handloom sector has, too, been severely affected with their traditional and contemporary markets for artisans being totally closed.

Craftspeople have always Made in India. They now need state support

Jaya Jaitley, Indian Express | 16 Apr 2020

Unless there is recognition and support for our 50 million skilled artisans and craftspeople through enabling sustainable livelihoods, many can be driven to penury and heritage skills will die….

Lockdown adds to weavers’ list of woes

K.C. Deepika, The Hindu | 9 Apr 2020

To keep the households of their weavers and workers going, Desi, an organization in Karnataka, has started a unique campaign. Instead of asking for donations and charity, they are asking patrons to pay what they can afford now and use that amount to make a purchase once businesses are back to normal.

Locking down craft: handmade, hung out to dry

Priti David, People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) | 7 Apr 2020

Craftspeople all over the country have been hit hard by the COVID-19 lockdown. PARI speaks to weavers, dyers, toymakers and village artists from north, south, east, west and central India to gauge the fallout

Coronavirus Impact on Indian Crafts and Handlooms

Suruchi Khubchandani, Voice of Fashion, | 19 Mar 2020

Crafts practitioners and stakeholders on the impact of COVID-19 on Indian artisans

Amazon May Enable Self-Help Groups From Karnataka To Sell Products Across India

Business World | 7 Oct 2020

There are about 1.5 lakh self-help groups in the state. These groups are engaged in the production of various products. It would give an impetus to the market if these products are enabled to sell through the e-commerce platform

Abolishing Handloom, Handicraft Boards during COVID-19 crisis is hasty move, reflecting govt's neglect of sectors

Macherla Mohan Rao, Firstpost | 8 Aug 2020

These measures are likely to push the traditional and informal sectors into crisis, just like the British pushed the weavers into unemployment and poverty

Insta Auctions, Digital Savvy Artisans: How Covid-19 Has Completely Changed India's Art Landscape

Simantini Dey, News18 | 5 Jun 2020

Artisans, many of whom are currently without jobs, and have had very limited ways to sustain themselves during the last two months of national lockdown, imposed by the government to curb coronavirus are praying for things to ‘get back to normal’.

When Indian folk art finds a viral muse.

Surya Praphulla Kumar, The Hindu | 30 May 2020

From masked women in pattachitra paintings to warli compositions tracking the spread of the virus — here’s how Indian folk artists are documenting the crisis

Lockdown takes sheen off Arni silk sarees, piled up stocks leave manufacturers in tears

R Sivakumar, New Indian Express | 30 May 2020

Thousands of labourers involved in weaving, dyeing yarn, designing and other related works in the silk town have been rendered jobless due to the lockdown.

No money, food, work or help: Textile handicraft artisans struggle as lockdown continues

Alfea Jamal, Hindustan Times | 20 May 2020

Part of an over Rs 24,000 crore industry, the weavers, potters, block printers, painters and a host of others represent the best of traditional craft from the length and breadth of India.

Artisans and weavers around the country face economic catastrophe

Ishani Duttagupta, ET Bureau, | 2 May 2020

Lakhs of artisans across the country are having to deal with massive order cancellation and also a pile up of raw material.

Lockdown leaves 30,000 silk weavers jobless in Tamil Nadu

Yogesh Kabirdoss, Times News Service | 25 April 2020

“Now, many weavers are dependent on private lenders and relatives for money for their daily survival as there are no takers for silk saris due to closure of shops…”

COVID-19: Displaced & Out Of Work, Artistes Of Kathputli Colony Struggle For Two Meals

Akshita Nagpal, India Spend | 23 Apr 2020

Master puppeteer Puran Bhatt is a Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar awardee. Today, the 66-year-old winner of India’s highest award for practicing artistes is under lockdown in a “transit camp” in west Delhi’s Anand Parbat, struggling to access ration for two meals a day.

Jharkhand’s chhau dancers and artisans take a battle stance against COVID-19

Shonali Muthalaly, The Hindu | 22 Apr 2020

Instead of celebrating spring with chhau, artisans in Seraikela are pivoting their skills to redesigning traditional masks as PPE, including three-ply fabric to cover the nostrils

Andhra Pradesh handloom sector reels under lockdown

Naresh Nandam, Hans News Service | 17 Apr 2020

We are always locked-down with looms. Allow us to work in these times, say weavers.

Lockdown causes a ₹8,000 crore setback to handicraft industries in UP

Sanjiv K Jha, Hindustan Times | 8 Apr 2020

With all the overseas orders cancelled, and movement of containers carrying handicraft products curtailed, the handicraft industry in the state has suffered a loss over ₹8,000 crore during this lockdown so far. The officials fear that unless the state government announces a special package for artisans, the handicraft industries will collapse.