Artisans to turn designers, thanks to local NGO

New Delhi: Happy Hands Foundation, an organisation that works closely on artisan-support programmes, has launched an initiative - Artists-in-Residence - that gives artisans from the remote corners of the country to learn design aesthetic and improvise their work.

"Artists from different part of the villages together stay with us in Delhi and do a one month workshop on how designing and art taught in colleges. Since artisans don`t have much sources and knowledge of outer world, this workshop will give them exposure and enhance their creativity and business style," said Medhavi, director of Happy Hands Foundation. The Artists-in-Residence is a 25-day residency programme that will make artisans learn new ways of art. Also, they will get the chance to teach people their art. The workshop, that starts April 5 this year, is an attempt for artisans to help them learn basic concepts of design, lateral thinking, and packaging etc through a series of education-sessions. There will be more then 2000 artists who will get a chance to learn basic tools and get the recognition like any other designer. "One way to engage with the artisans is that we visit their places and work with them. We interact and share ideas and tell them the need of the market so that they can develop interesting products and they can have an understanding of the market," Medhavi said. "To maintain the originality, we encourage to artisan to design by their own. That what we believe is they key to sustainability in the art, design and craft sector," she added. IANS