Craft Stories
What is behind a handcrafted product? Who are the people behind it, how far back does the craft go, and what are the processes that go into the craft?
Browse our Craft Stories to find out!
Tibetan Flags: Goodwill and Compassion for All
I'd seen Tibetan flags on the rear windshield of cars, and wondered why someone would want to keep...
Weaving livelihoods, cleaning waterways
For four years, Mr Abdul Waheed saw a green invasive grass clogging the canals on the way to his...
The Taj Isn’t the Only Marbled Wonder!
What consists of swirling patterns and no two are the same? Yes, fingerprints, but also marbled...
Adding Colour to Lives with Natural Dyeing
Every day at the Bhoomika Activity and Skill Training Centre, the young women eagerly check a...
Returning to the Roots: Banjara Embroidery
When Rohit Rathod’s grandfather came to see his grandmother to seek her hand in marriage, his...
For a colourful future: Bannada Dhara
One small village and five women. COVID. A passion to make something of themselves. One person to...
Bagging a livelihood: Thoorigai
Its number in the catalogue is AR120. Its specs are also nondescript: it’s a single zipper bag...
Capturing stories in a single frame
Scrolling. About a hundred years ago, it held an entirely different meaning. Teams of storytellers...
This Ability: Changing narratives
When 50 women from Self Help Groups and 100 students of a college in Pondicherry were shown the...
Toda Embroidery: Beautiful, inside out!
Black, red, and white. The colours of the Toda embroidery may be limited, but their repertoire is...
Nothing Goes Waste!
Jaipur prints, for many of us, bring to mind one type of print, perhaps the ones we see in...
Recycle that Denim! Ideas and Resources
Ah, denim. It's the ultimate fabric that can be worn almost every day, from work to the weekend....
Palmistry!
In and around Pulicat, the palm tree is a constant presence--be it in the crafts of the region, or...
Nesting skills
Thirankoodu literally means “nest of skills.” This is what Satya Special School’s project,...
A common thread
Arockiyamary has been coming to the Cluny Art Embroidery Centre for around 40 years. She is...
Saree-incarnation!
Saree-incarnation!
Organizations that do amazing things with old saris
Tholu Bommalata: Dance of light and shadow
Light and shadow. Using this basic idea, this ancient art form of Andhra Pradesh has beautifully...
Looking at art in the right light
Art in products has been something of an obsession for us at Club Artizen. So it was but fitting...
Silver linings: The art of Bidri
After school, Taher Siddiqui, then nine, would go directly to the karkhana (factory), helping his...
Knot from Overseas: The History of Macramé
Boredom of sailors. That’s what gave rise to one of today’s boldest fashion statements. What is...
Creating a Sustainable Line: The Club Artizen/LEERA story
When Kairavi Shahu started work on the exclusive vegan leather line for Club Artizen, the task...
Two states: A collaborative craft enterprise
Collaboration across two states: grass from Assam woven in Tamil Nadu. That’s the formula that has...
Everyday green living
Our sustainable lifestyle products are an effort to introduce the concept of green living in our...
Embroidery-like weaving: Rajasthan’s Pattu
It was right after the drought of 1987 that the people of Bikaner started looking for alternate...
Sweet expression: The traditional art of Madhubani
Madhubani, also called Mithila painting, originated in the Mithila region in present day Bihar....
Resist and dye: The Shibori revolution
Of late, we have been hearing a lot of the word shibori. If the name doesn’t sound very Indian,...
Patchwork: From rags to riches!
Yesterday I came home with a noticeable tear on my shirt. While one part of me was in pain to let...
Seva Trust. They also make bags.
The first product that we came across, from Seva Charitable Trust, was the gobar diya. These...
Little-known facts about Kalamkari!
If you live in India, you could not have missed hearing the word ‘kalamkari.’ Chances are, you own...
Dotted Lines
Lilesh has a master’s degree in social work. He is a farmer too. However, the identity he wishes...
Honey, I shrunk the income gap!
In 1993, three friends backpacked across the Nilgiris to understand honey hunters and their...
Grass craft: The last straw?
We’ve always had a tradition of using everything that can be used, and grass is no different....
Trash-ure!
Scrapshala, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Scrapshala is an organization whose mission is to stop waste...
Punja Dhurrie: All yours
Chandigarh enterprise brings Punja Dhurrie out of homes Naseeb Kaur’s granddaughter was recently...
Swirling in uniqueness: Marbling
“It’s the magic of seeing the paper come out of the tray, patterned in different colours, which is...
A is for… Amazing Arts from the Andhra Region
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are home to a wealth of sustainable traditional crafts that are...
Front and Centre: Festive Spotlight on Indian Crafts
When someone asks you to name Indian crafts, how many can you? Before Club Artizen, mine was...
Bamboo Crafts Help Tribal Women Stand Tall
Baans. Moongil. Bidiru. Baambu. Mula. Veduru. Mat. All words for the versatile bamboo in...
“Macramé pe charcha” for well-being
It was in 2009, when her daughter studied in a Waldorf-inspired school, that psychologist Nirupama...
Straw products in modern avatar: Moonj
Moonj grass is abundantly found in riverbanks, and also used as a border grass in fields in Uttar...
Marching toward new motifs: Cherial art
Sai Kiran Dhanalakota had nearly decided that he would study animation. No matter that his...
Building new from old: Dharamshala’s handmade paper
It was the 1990s, and Dharamshala’s waste problem was increasing day by day. Tourists and...
The story of a home
For twenty years, the Rehoboth Home for the Mentally Disabled have been working with women who...
Channapatna: Wood toys, for good
The word “Channapatna” literally means “good town”, but the more colloquial name for it, gives a...
A different kind of shark tank
Sura—meaning shark—has helped women in a rural coastal area in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, fasten their...
Mewar Art: Small wonders
Artists were cameramen of those days, says Sachin Kothari, of Fine Arts School, Udaipur, of Mewar...
A second life
A priest standing next to a pile of used flowers. An NGO whose staff offered to help the priest....
All’s well that begins well
“We only use The Hindu,” says Danny Merguei, of Wellpaper. “It’s the only newspaper where the...
Mindful gifting!
For a lot of people, love and affection is expressed through gifts. For me, it’s a way of...
Pattachitra: The story of art
Medium, Not Rare