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A rich reservoir of
artifacts, skills, unwritten knowledge - history and literature, music
and lore - are in a danger of being lost forever. In the middle of deadlines
and product development, Sasha has always felt the need to document and
record information about the craftsmen they work with, their way of life,
the techniques of their craft and the things they made that are no longer
used today. Much of this has been put together as collections and has
lead to exhibitions in India and abroad. The core collections consist
of photographs, old artifacts, write-ups and pieces for sale. This is
available for further exhibitions.
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There are available
a collection of information, photographs and samples on the tribals of
Orissa covering aspects of their crafts, rituals and traditions. Some
of the crafts documented are :
- musical instruments
- textiles
- shawls
- adivasi
combs
- wall painting
- dhokara
or lost wax casting
This collection has
been exhibited in The Crafts Museum, New Delhi, Bolzano Merano and Brunico
Civic Museums in Italy.
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| Kantha
has also been a focus of attention for Sasha. A lot of research has been
done, not only on the kinds of stitches and motifs used, but also on the
cultural context of kantha in the everyday life of Bengali women. The major
objective was to draw attention to kantha and the people behind the kantha
scene. The two phased project involving research and visits to numerous
outside producers for over a year culminated in exhibitions at the Jehangir
Art Gallery, Bombay, The crafts museum, in Bolzano, Merano and Brunico in
Italy and in Edinborough. A documentation process evolved out of this work
on these exhibits. Recollection of the names of the various stitches, stitching
and unstitching different areas towards achieving perfection, examining
various color combinations (not necessarily the traditional ones), introduction
of vegetable dyed yarn and finally, seeing the end product at the exhibitions,
gave the craftswoman a great sense of confidence. |
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| The
Aari collection was first exhibited in Glasgow in 1990. The collection revived
a lot of old designs, fabrics and techniques and aari craftsmen demostrated
the craft. There are a series of exhibitions going on on Aari which you
can read about in the exhibitions page. |
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